lewislewis
Lumumba Cymru
He's not to everyone's taste, but Monbiot's take on rural radicalism in Wales is exactly the same as the perceptions I had when, as a non-Welsh speaking urbanised person, spent time in rural Wales amongst Plaid circles for the first time.
Excellent article which demonstrates Plaid's thinking and the progress that is being made here. The people commenting on a previous thread who thought Plaid were 'neo-liberal' like the SNP, and that weren't familiar with the Welsh situation, could do worse than read this article.
For the past few years a quiet but momentous revolution has been taking place. That this has passed largely unnoticed in England reflects the media's lack of interest in Wales. English progressives know more about the political transformation in Bolivia than the similar shift happening over the border. Perhaps this is just as well. The Welsh have been left to get on with it, and nobody in England cares enough to try to stop them.
It was Plaid Cymru that led the attempt to impeach Tony Blair over the invasion of Iraq. It opposed the conflict in Afghanistan from the outset. It wants to scrap Trident and cancel the aircraft carrier and Eurofighter contracts. It would break up the banks, ban short selling, tax foreign exchange transactions, raise capital gains tax, raise income tax for the rich while reducing it for the poor. It would set a maximum wage and give workers seats on corporate boards.
It seeks to renationalise the railways and curb the power of the supermarkets. It wants a living pension for everyone over 80, to raise benefits in line with average earnings and to scrap tuition fees. It would abandon ID cards, stop detaining asylum seekers and shift sentencing away from prison and towards restorative justice.
Such policies are widely held to make parties in England unelectable. But in Wales they are considered mainstream, and not just among Plaid supporters.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/apr/19/wales-devolution-welsh-assembly
Excellent article which demonstrates Plaid's thinking and the progress that is being made here. The people commenting on a previous thread who thought Plaid were 'neo-liberal' like the SNP, and that weren't familiar with the Welsh situation, could do worse than read this article.
For the past few years a quiet but momentous revolution has been taking place. That this has passed largely unnoticed in England reflects the media's lack of interest in Wales. English progressives know more about the political transformation in Bolivia than the similar shift happening over the border. Perhaps this is just as well. The Welsh have been left to get on with it, and nobody in England cares enough to try to stop them.
It was Plaid Cymru that led the attempt to impeach Tony Blair over the invasion of Iraq. It opposed the conflict in Afghanistan from the outset. It wants to scrap Trident and cancel the aircraft carrier and Eurofighter contracts. It would break up the banks, ban short selling, tax foreign exchange transactions, raise capital gains tax, raise income tax for the rich while reducing it for the poor. It would set a maximum wage and give workers seats on corporate boards.
It seeks to renationalise the railways and curb the power of the supermarkets. It wants a living pension for everyone over 80, to raise benefits in line with average earnings and to scrap tuition fees. It would abandon ID cards, stop detaining asylum seekers and shift sentencing away from prison and towards restorative justice.
Such policies are widely held to make parties in England unelectable. But in Wales they are considered mainstream, and not just among Plaid supporters.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/apr/19/wales-devolution-welsh-assembly
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