Seize the day and let Wales be independent
AS one sifts through the treacle of Brexit-related correspondence it occurs to me that here in Wales there is one take that either remains completely unexplored or more likely resides in the “verboten” shadows of the very much unsaid.
The lunacy of Brexit economic self-harm brings with it the spectres of unemployment, recession, isolationism and sadly, future pariah status as perceived by the EU.
So far so bad. But amid this right royal Eton Mess there is a glorious opportunity for us here in Wales to unshackle ourselves from the seemingly never-ending stultification of British Unionism.
Boris Johnson may be many things, but stupidity and lack of guile are not part of his makeup. The apparent irreconcilability of the Hallowe’en “do or die” mantra and EU steadfastness coupled with unhelpful parliamentary arithmetic points the way to his solution.
Proroguing of parliament Charles the First style has already been part-telegraphed, and even with Bojo’s unusual relationship with the truth he has already declared that this is not an option to which he is attracted. Neutering of parliament by packing the order papers with a mass of anodyne issues which do not attract a Commons vote in the leadup to October 31, 2019, or a variant thereon is probably his preferred modus operandi.
The very real likely outcome of all of this is a no-deal Brexit. Disastrous for the Welsh economy by common consent, even including most Brexiteers [although not arch Quisling Cairns].
Wipe-out for much of our manufacturing base, civil disobedience by our farmers, an increasing anglocentric powergrab and reversal of our tenuous devolution settlement are all either by-products of Johnson’s Churchillian blunderbuss that is a no-deal Brexit or part of a wider rollback devolution Westminster “take back control” narrative. Our limp and ineffective Wales First Minister who has seemingly self-diluted his long-held British unionism [self-preservation motivation?] will be no match for a resurgent Johnson and Tory Party post his routing of Corbyn and the sidelining of Farage post ignominious exit.
But Johnson, clever as he is, may well fall foul of failing to take heed of the saying in his beloved Latin – Carpe diem, quam minimum credulo postero (Seize the day, put very little trust in tomorrow).
The Armageddon of a no-deal Brexit will without doubt accelerate exponentially the shifting of the political tectonic plates here in Wales. The debate regarding Welsh independence will no longer revolve around how, but when? Not can we? but, we must. How could we have been so stupid and for so long?
Many unionists have recognised that the inevitable consequence of a no-deal Brexit is a break-up of an already fragile amalgam of nations.It is regrettable and indeed reprehensible that our nation [and indeed Scotland and the annexed north of Ireland] will have to suffer such economic calamity on the altar of perfidious Albion’s last flaying of the imperial tail.
But there is a dividend. Wales can at last take its place alongside other small independent nations. It can in due course rejoin the EU.
As Boris might put it, Paradisum perdidit, Inveristi paradisum (Paradise lost, Paradise found). Owain Llywelyn
Cardiff