Illuminati-R-Us

So I just saw a travel show about Wales, well, north Wales anyway. LArge castles, narrow streets full of tourist shoppers, lovely seaside views. Names I cannot pronounce and people who pronounced them.

SO I idly wondered, is there any sentiment there for independence there akin to the Scottish Independence?

Until recently not as much but it seems to be growing.

I have several Welsh friends of the staunch Labour Party tradition, long opposed to Welsh independence, who are now wholeheartedly for it. Anecdotal and hardly statistically significant, but it is what it is.

It'll be interesting to see, but Heid the Ba's right, it's not on a level with Scotland. Previously even less: the referendum over whether they should have devolved government was only passed by a very narrow majority - in contrast with Scotland, where it had overwhelming support. Interesting to hear that it's growing now.

In Wales, far more than in Scotland (as far as I can tell), language is a big, big marker for nationalism. The SNP may also have a Gaelic name - I don't know - but it is principally known by its English name; its Welsh counterpart is Plaid Cymru (it has an English version, Party of Wales, but that's much less well known outside Wales). So devolution had a major language element: all official correspondence, websites, road signs, etc. are bilingual - across the country, not just in certain regions - Welsh is a compulsory subject in schools, etc. That concession may have taken some of the force out of the independence movement. Plus the fact that Nicola Sturgeon and her colleagues are far better at engaging with UK politics as a whole than Plaid Cymru is - relatively few people outside Wales even know the Plaid Cymru leader's name!

Also, the SNP have really gained ground as an anti-Brexit party: a platform of not just independence per se, but followed by (re-) accession to the EU. That works well as Scotland voted solidly Remain. Wales narrowly voted Leave, which the Tories are delivering.