Although it’s a little bit late – by around three or four months – 2021 marks the fifth anniversary of the official launch of the current incarnation of YesCymru.
This piece was going to be written anyway, but it’s come at a time of public disagreements over the direction of the pro-independence group. That may be inflamed by a mix of people pursuing their own agendas, disappointment that the promised push for independence at the 2021 Senedd election didn’t materialise, a lack of transparency on YesCymru’s part and some pretty aggressive to-and-fro on social media by everyone.
The pandemic has made things more difficult than they otherwise would have been and put everyone on edge, so I’m reluctant to say the organisation is at a turning point even if some of the more recent developments have been concerning.
There are things they’ve done right and things they’ve done wrong – like any body its size. It’s just a case of maintaining and building upon progress where it’s been made and learning from mistakes.
(Update: 10/07/2021) Since posting this, Siôn Jobbins has announced his resignation as Chair of YesCymru.
While he quite clearly states this wasn’t for any political reasons, purely personal, it raises yet more concerns about how the organisation is being run. The sensible move would be to call an EGM and hold the necessary elections as soon as possible. This is beginning to spin out of control given that yet another senior founding member of YesCymru has left.
As for Siôn, I don’t think we could’ve asked for a better person to get the movement this far. It takes the sort of character a lot of people lack to admit the job has gotten too big to handle, but YesCymru would never have gotten to where it is now without him.
I hope this is temporary and he can remain active in the independence movement, but myself and every single independence supporter are in his debt. Diolch o galon, Siôn.
(Update: 13/08/2021) Only a month after the last update, today it’s reported the entire Central Committee has stood down after a series of resignations and suspensions over the last few weeks. An interim team has been put in place ahead of an EGM in the autumn.
While I don’t believe they’ve managed the situation to this point particularly well (and made that clear in the piece itself), I have a lot of sympathy with the (now former) Central Committee members for the abuse they’ve received which got very nasty very quickly. It was clear that (the former Chair) Sarah Rees and others were trying to get a hold on things and get the right processes in place but that wasn’t enough for some people. I said we had to be patient and give them a chance, but that didn’t happen.
Hopefully, this finally draws a line under the months-long infighting, but mass resignations like this are hardly a good look.
Looking at the bigger picture, there’s more to be positive about than negative.
The last year or so of growth won’t be wiped out by social media spats, committee politics or fallout from the Senedd election. But before things like AUOB marches can start again it’s the right time to review where YesCymru have come from and where they’re going.
Everyone needs to calm down a bit and take a step back from social media over the summer – except when I post something, of course – then come back with a clear head in the autumn. The new Central Committee have only been going a few weeks and need to be given at least some time and space to breathe – but they also need to acknowledge there’s a serious problem with transparency and they can’t run away from it, stall or hide behind the constitution.
Augustus Gloop vs Veruca Salt
My biggest concern going forward is the underlying tension between those who want independence first and focus on that at the expense of everything else, and those who list lengthy demands without much serious thought behind it, wanting an ever unchanging Wales set ankle deep in concrete – Augustus Gloop vs Veruca Salt.
“Indy first, sort it out afterwards like innit butt *nom-nom-nom-nom-nom*” doesn’t offer much depth, is too easy to dismiss by Unionists and the indycurious alike and hardly gets the heart pumping. You need some kind of vision and idea of where you’re going instead of wearing a blindfold and thinking it’ll all work itself out in the end. Didn’t you learn anything from Brexit?
Meanwhile, “I want this, this, this, this, this, this, this aaaand this and if I don’t get it right now I’ll scream and scream and scream and YOU WANT TO SELL THE POOR OFF TO TESCO AS MEAT AND USE THE HOMELESS AS SPEED HUMPS! YOU’RE PART OF A WOKE MARXIST PLOT TO RELEASE GAY FROGS INTO THE WILD AND FORCE MEN TO WEAR TAMPONS! YOU’RE A FASCIST AND WORSE THAN HITLER! LOOK AT MY WITTY PHOTOSHOP OF YOU AS HITLER DEMONSTRATING THAT YOU ARE, IN FACT, HITLER! WHY ARE YOU BAD-MOUTHING HITLER, YOU FASCIST!!? LET ME FINISH! STOP BULLYING ME YOU C*NT!!!” implies the end of multi-party democracy after independence, as well as going into it with our arms tied behind our backs because of impatience and pigheadedness. You don’t need to compromise on core principles, but you can’t make “jam tomorrow” promises you may not be able to keep. Didn’t you learn anything from Brexit?
Present the options, start debates, say what could be done, not what will or would be done. Dream up that better future and be clear about what you want, then work backwards from that point. Consider opposite points of view and unintended consequences in order to figure out how to get there and maybe, just maybe, realise it’s more difficult than you imagined and is going to take a lot longer than you thought. Just don’t assume you can think or bully things into existence or leave things to chance.
Likewise, namedropping philosophers and academics, knowing the theory inside out and painting pretty pictures of the future with words are all well and good, but if you want something to happen it has to work in the real world. Don’t assume everyone around you exists to be subject to your grand untested experiments or that you’ll ever be in a position to carry them out.
Ultimately, only governments and parliaments can deliver policies and have the resources to do so – not YesCymru. If you can’t – in good conscience – support independence without making big policy changes beforehand, then join a political party too, become active there and you may just get them.
Trust the members
More trust (and resources) should be placed with the local branches while the membership should have a greater say in how YesCymru is run. There have been proposals in the past for some form of National Congress to ratify decisions and however much a pain in the arse it’ll be to go over the constitution again, it’s worth another look. It will be difficult to make a case against members-at-large having a bigger role.
In terms of messaging, they don’t need to promote YesCymru the brand as much anymore. There should be a sustained information campaign (things like the YouYesYet? podcast are a step in the right direction here) as well as more detailed research to figure out where the main weaknesses are in the arguments for independence (in order to address them honestly; more lessons from Brexit) and to get a better idea of who needs to be convinced, why and what they would be open to.
There were titters at recent suggestions that street theatre/performers could be one of the next YesCymru-sponsored events. The arts and creatives are as much a part of this as anything or anyone else; it doesn’t need to be all about academic seminars and balance sheets. “Fun” should be allowed and could bring in more people than it turns off – if it’s done the right way.
YesCymru won’t head in one direction forever and they have made – and will continue to make – mistakes, but they’ve had wobbles in the past and survived. There have been more visible successes than failures and they deserve nothing but applause for that.
They remain the most important vehicle for the independence movement as a whole, but we would all do well to remember that independence is bigger than organisations and committees. YesCymru is as much an idea as it is an actual thing.
Independence is about, and belongs to, everyone. Vehicles can’t move without someone or something driving it: in this case all of us, not some of us.