{"id":42052,"date":"2021-05-18T10:00:30","date_gmt":"2021-05-18T09:00:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jacothenorth.net\/blog\/?p=42052"},"modified":"2021-05-19T22:14:45","modified_gmt":"2021-05-19T21:14:45","slug":"yescymru-under-new-management","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jacothenorth.net\/blog\/yescymru-under-new-management\/","title":{"rendered":"YesCymru – under new management?"},"content":{"rendered":"

I’M IN SEMI-RETIREMENT AND THIS BLOG IS WINDING DOWN. I INTEND CALLING IT A DAY SOON AFTER THIS YEAR’S SENEDD ELECTIONS. <\/b><\/span>POSTINGS WILL NOW BE LESS FREQUENT AND I WILL NOT UNDERTAKE ANY MAJOR NEW INVESTIGATIONS<\/b><\/span>. DIOLCH YN FAWR.<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2666<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>This coming Saturday sees the AGM at which the far left will seek to complete its takeover of YesCymru.<\/p>\n

For suggesting this in recent posts I have been called all sorts of names, with ‘conspiracy theorist’ one of the more polite epithets. But once you understand the background, and the motivations then what some would like to dismiss as a wild theory makes perfect sense.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Click to enlarge<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Above you see an example of what I and others have to put up with from the woke-left jackal pack on social media. (You wonder why I drink!<\/em>)<\/p>\n

\u25ca<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

IN THE BEGINNING<\/p>\n

YesCymru announced itself with a rally held in Cardiff on September 13, 2014 in support of Scottish independence. This was inspired by Yes Scotland, the cross-party campaign for a Yes vote in the independence referendum that same month.<\/p>\n

Yes Scotland disbanded soon after the referendum.<\/p>\n

I was in Scotland myself for the referendum and on my return I gave my view of the situation with Beginning of the End<\/em><\/a>. I was of course disappointed by the result, and yet, I sensed there was no going back.<\/p>\n

The obvious difference between Yes Scotland and YesCymru was that the former had come into existence for the Scottish independence referendum while the latter had been created with no prospect of a Welsh referendum. So why was YesCymru formed?<\/p>\n

The answer I was given was that YesCymru was born to breathe life into the idea of independence, which many felt was not being promoted vigorously enough by Plaid Cymru. Which at that time was led by Leanne Wood.<\/p>\n

This made perfect sense.<\/p>\n

I’m not saying that Leanne Wood wasn’t in favour of independence, but I do believe that for her independence was not a priority. Or perhaps, it was desirable only if it delivered a certain kind<\/em> of independence.<\/p>\n

What I’m suggesting might possibly be explained by Leanne Wood’s visit to Scotland in the referendum period. The writer of this September 2014 article from Open Democracy<\/em><\/a> tells us, “When I met her, Leanne had just been to Glasgow to speak to the Radical Independence Campaign<\/a>.”<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Factionalism, on the left! Surely not! Click to enlarge<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For the Radical Independence Campaign also wanted a certain type<\/em> of independence, perhaps more John Maclean than Bonny Prince Charlie. And there was nothing wrong with that. They were quite open and honest about it.<\/p>\n

The point to be made here is that those preferring a left wing approach to Scottish independence could join the Radical Independence Campaign, while anyone who did not support the RIC’s vision was free to join Yes Scotland, which was more mainstream and less doctrinaire.<\/p>\n

Back to Wales.<\/p>\n

\u25ca<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

YESCYMRU, LAUNCH AND FIRST ATTEMPT AT TAKEOVER<\/p>\n

So, from the summer of 2014, Wales had the political party, Plaid Cymru, that claimed to favour independence, plus a new organisation, YesCymru, that, by its very existence, suggested there were many unconvinced that Plaid Cymru was serious about independence.<\/p>\n

Another take on it might be that there were people supportive of independence who had little time for Plaid Cymru but could support a non-aligned group like YesCymru.<\/p>\n

By late 2015 things were gearing up for the official public launch, which came on February 20, 2016. I gave it a write-up here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Click to enlarge<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The reports I received said that the Red Queen was not happy with YesCymru, she felt it needed to be ‘redirected’. Some even suggested that she saw YesCymru as an indirect attack on her leadership of Plaid Cymru.<\/p>\n

A number of sources have told me that the infiltration of YesCymru by the left began even before the official launch in February 2016.<\/p>\n

Though the infiltrators were resisted. Matters came to a head – in the autumn of 2018? – when a few of the infiltrators were suspended for bullying and other offences. Then, for not complying with the terms of their suspension, and refusing to hand over passwords for social media accounts, they were expelled.<\/p>\n

The names I’ve been given are Colin \/ Colyn Nosworthy and Sandra Clubb.<\/p>\n

Despite this tweet from Siwan Clark last week, the expulsions were for the reasons I’ve just given. Though the tweet is unintentionally revealing.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Click to enlarge<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

According to Clark, people were thrown out because YesCymru would not “commit to being anti-racist and anti-fascist”<\/em>.\u00a0 But why should an\u00a0 organisation formed to promote a single issue burden itself with ideological baggage?<\/p>\n

And note that those opposed to such unnecessary distractions must be “right wingers”<\/em>.<\/p>\n

I’m sure you’re wondering who Siwan Clark is. I’d never heard of her myself until someone sent me that tweet and a different source drew my attention to this piece from The National<\/em><\/a> last December, where Adam Ramsay had this to say:<\/p>\n

“In Wales, socialists and progressives disappointed by Labour\u2019s election defeat are starting to plan ahead, too.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Siwan Clark is one of the many young people who moved home for lockdown. A few years ago she had left Cardiff for London because of \u201ca feeling that you have to be there, that it was the centre of things\u201d. The pandemic has changed all that. \u201cFor a lot of people who\u2019ve moved home, their sphere is turning to more local things,\u201d she said to me over Zoom recently.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Before Covid, Clark said, she wouldn\u2019t have expected most people in Wales to know the name of the first minister. (It\u2019s Mark Drakeford.) \u201cI was extremely ignorant about the Assembly. I just didn\u2019t really engage with it,\u201d she said.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

In London, she had joined Labour \u201cin a rage\u201d so that she could vote for\u00a0Jeremy Corbyn<\/a>\u00a0during the post-Brexit leadership challenge. \u201cI was so annoyed by that. I canvassed a lot in 2017. And a lot in 2019.\u201d<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Now 26 and back in Wales, Clark has joined Undod, the campaign for radical Welsh independence.”<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

It’s a revealing little section. To begin with, we read that Undod is committed to “radical Welsh independence”<\/em>. An echo of the Radical Independence Campaign in Scotland, which you’ll remember Leanne Wood addressed in 2014.<\/p>\n

Adam Ramsay hints that Siwan Clark had little time for devolution, she went to London and supported Corbyn. Then, when her hero was deposed, she came home, and joined Undod.<\/p>\n

I’m losing count of the left wingers who ‘discovered’ Wales and the cause of Welsh independence after Corbyn got the chop.<\/p>\n

\u25ca<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

THE LEFT SUFFERS A SETBACK BUT REGROUPS<\/p>\n

But let’s go back to 2018 for a moment. Among the big events was the Plaid Cymru leadership contest in September. Despite having led the party since 2012 Leanne Wood came third in a three-horse race<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It’s difficult to convey how much of a shock this was to Leanne Wood’s supporters inside the party, in the Cardiff Bay bubble, and indeed to those outside Wales who viewed her as a combination of Boudicca and La Pasionaria<\/em>.<\/p>\n

But then, when you live in a closed-off world, interacting almost exclusively with those who share your views, it’s so easy to lose contact with reality<\/p>\n

This article by Dr Huw Williams in Nation.Cymru<\/a> gives a fascinating insight into the expulsions, and the thinking of the far left ahead of the YesCymru AGM held in Burry Port on October 13, 2018. He says:<\/p>\n

” . . . it looks likely now that a movement for radical independence will come into existence in some form over the coming months.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

In some respects, it\u2019s a pity this did not happen sooner, as it may have assuaged the concerns of some of those in YesCymru who have felt it necessary to act as they have.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

However, it must not be the case that this movement is perceived to be a \u2018challenger\u2019 to YesCymru \u2013 rather it should be a group that will hopefully, in future, be part of a wider movement, and one in which different people can pursue different political visions for Wales.”<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

By October 2018 the left had decided to set up a ‘radical’ rival to YesCymru. That decision was influenced partly by the expulsions from YesCymru and partly by the result of the Plaid Cymru leadership contest.<\/p>\n

Invitations went out mid-December 2018 to the launch of Undod<\/a> – I got one!<\/em> – with the actual launch meeting held at Yr Hen Goleg in Aberystwyth on 26 January, 2019. (A place dear to old Jac’s heart!<\/a>)<\/p>\n

In his Nation.Cymru article Huw Williams, after appearing conciliatory, adopted a rather dismissive tone with, “As for YesCymru, no doubt they will continue in some form.”<\/em> Indeed they did, Huw! YesCymru grew and grew and grew.<\/p>\n

With Undod the far left had a base in which it could re-group, and from which it could mount attacks. Undod, set up by hard-core leftists, would recruit mainly young people and they would sally forth to infiltrate other groups.<\/p>\n

So successful has the strategy been that even Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg (the Welsh Language Society) has been penetrated.<\/p>\n

Welsh-speaking communities are being destroyed by tourism, holiday homes and colonisation, yet as this tweet from last week suggests, Cymdeithas yr Iaith may now have other priorities.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
It reads: ‘Freedom for Palestine’.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The period 2018\/19 was obviously difficult for the left. The once revered but now ‘stupid and racist’ working class had voted for Brexit, Trump was in the White House, and then, to cap it all, came the UK general election of December 2019, when Corbyn’s Labour Party was heavily defeated.<\/p>\n

While the left seemed to be on the defensive globally, here in Wales it had regrouped and was on the march again; playing identity politics and spreading poison through the Welsh body politic by infiltration.<\/p>\n

\u25ca<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

CUI BONO?<\/em><\/p>\n

Dr Huw Williams, in his Nation.Cymru piece of October 2018 suggested that YesCymru and the new movement could appeal to different sections of the population.<\/p>\n

Which makes sense to me.<\/p>\n

He also talked of “different political visions for Wales”<\/em>. But in recent years we’ve seen the left attack and vilify alternative visions. Now we see the final confirmation of the left’s intolerance towards other views with its planned takeover of YesCymru.<\/p>\n

To repeat: After the initial failure to take over YesCymru Undod was set up by Labour and Plaid Cymru left wingers to infiltrate various Welsh organisations to promote their leftist agenda, with YesCymru being the juiciest prize due to its large membership and the publicity it attracted through its rallies and other activities.<\/p>\n

As shown in the image below.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Image Undod. Click to enlarge<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The board held by the woman on the right reads: ‘No room for fascists in a free Wales’. Which is another way of saying, ‘Only fascists<\/em> could oppose the socialist vision we have for Wales.’<\/p>\n

Which is attempting to close a debate by vilifying those who dare to take a different viewpoint. (Or else, and perhaps worse – they really believe it!)<\/p>\n

For that’s how the far left operates. Invent or exaggerate a problem, then demand action and dismiss opponents as racists \/ homophobes \/ fascists \/ transphobes \/ terfs \/ climate deniers \/ Islamophobes \/ etc.<\/p>\n

In my lifetime the left has supported many causes but, compared with ending the Vietnam War or freeing Nelson Mandela, exploiting confused individuals with chips on their shoulders is at best exploitative, and at worst, rather despicable.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Which calls into question the motivation for taking over YesCymru. Many of Undod’s luminaries are in the Labour Party, so are they really serious about independence?<\/p>\n

I believe they want to take over YesCymru simply to use its 18,000+ members to promote their left wing agenda. As they’re doing in Plaid Cymru, Cymdeithas yr Iaith, Plaid Ifanc, and elsewhere.<\/p>\n

Consequently . . .<\/p>\n

Unless it can be proven otherwise there should be a presumption that those standing for the Central Committee on the ‘diversity’ ticket either belong to or are being used by the far left that wishes to subvert YesCymru for its own purposes. They should therefore be rejected.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

But if the worst happens, and if YesCymru does fall to the far left, then Huw Williams’ suggestion of two independence movements appealing to different constituencies will be the way to proceed.<\/p>\n

\u2666 end \u2666\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n


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I’M IN SEMI-RETIREMENT AND THIS BLOG IS WINDING DOWN. I INTEND CALLING IT A DAY SOON AFTER THIS YEAR’S SENEDD ELECTIONS. POSTINGS WILL NOW BE LESS FREQUENT AND I WILL NOT UNDERTAKE ANY MAJOR NEW INVESTIGATIONS. DIOLCH YN FAWR. \u2666 This coming Saturday sees the AGM at which the far left will seek to complete … <\/p>\n

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