INDEPENDENCE campaigners in Gwent believe a good turnout for a march in the capital this weekend proves the movement is on the up.
Thousands of people travelled to Cardiff on Saturday, despite a day of rail strikes, to take part in the rally for Welsh independence.
Among them was Brandon Ham, a Plaid Cymru community councillor from Risca.
Speaking to the Argus after the event, he praised the "really nice turnout and positive atmosphere".
Around 10,000 people were believed to have taken part in the march through the city centre, waving brightly coloured banners before listening to speakers in Windsor Place.
Cllr Ham said political decisions at a UK level in recent years had encouraged more people to consider self-determination for Wales.
"If you look at what's going in Westminster, whatever your political persuasion people are starting to ask if it's the best setup for Wales," he said.
There were lots of younger people taking part in the march, and for Cllr Ham, who thinks there could be a referendum held in Wales "in the next decade or two", the interest of a new generation is crucial.
"The young people there shows we are moving in the right direction," he said. "They're really behind this idea. They're far more switched on to the disservice of Westminster and rightly worried about their future."
The Covid pandemic, he added, gave Wales an opportunity to make more of its own decisions, albeit under the leadership of Welsh Labour's Mark Drakeford - a pro-unionist - whose response to coronavirus was consistently more popular with the public than Boris Johnson's, polls showed.
The pandemic “cemented in people’s minds that we can do things differently”, Cllr Ham suggested. “That began to build the [independence] movement even further.
“People were at least starting to question if Wales was getting the best deal out of this [union].”
Cllr Ham acknowledged there would be challenges if Wales went it alone.
“It’s our job in Plaid Cymru and other independence-supporting parties to let people know things will be OK,” he said. “We have to be honest about the challenges that are going to face us, but the question is whether we can afford to stay as part of the UK.”
He said that the nation hold a referendum “when the people of Wales are ready” but said he believed “we shouldn’t put a date on it right now”, adding the proposed second referendum in Scotland would provide an important litmus test for the Welsh movement.
Peredur Owen Griffiths, Plaid Cymru Senedd member for the South Wales East region, said “the size and success of the march in Cardiff shows that the independence movement is going from strength-to-strength”.
He added: “At the heart of this movement is an inclusive and positive message that welcomes people no matter what their background, skin colour, sexual orientation or religion.
“We are all united by a desire to create a brighter future for Wales away from the toxicity, neglect and inequality that comes our way from Westminster.”
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