True Wales' Untruths

There is a sweet irony in the fact that a movement calling itself True Wales should launch its campaign by making a string of untruthful claims!

The True Wales campaign claims that it is the voice of the majority that wants to see Wales remain a part of the UK. They are going to represent that true voice by campaigning against the Welsh Assembly gaining any new powers in a referendum called under the Government of Wales Act 2006!

The first untruth is the movement's claim that they are "opposed to the Assembly gaining further powers". What a crock of dung! The movement's real issue is opposition to the very existence of the Assembly. They want to see the Assembly abolished! But lending this bunch of fools support wont see the abolition of the Assembly - Abolition is not on the political agenda.

Their second untruth is that supporting their campaign will stop the Assembly from gaining further powers. No it wont! The Government of Wales Act has already granted the Assembly all the potential powers that a referendum could grant through the eLCO system. If a referendum is never held, or if a referendum is held today and Wales votes 100% NO - the potential powers in the Act remain. The Assembly will still get the powers but through a tortuous route rather than through a simple one.

The third untruth that True Wales makes is the claim that supporters of devolution all support independence. It is fair to say that some do see devolution as a step by step process towards independence. But only a fool could claim that a yes vote in a GoW Act referendum equates to a vote in favour of independence! Elin Jones, Adam Price and others have been honest enough to state that they see every step for devolution as a step towards independence; but they believe that a referendum ON independence is very far down the line. There is no way that the referendum in the offing can be claimed to be a referendum in favour of independence. The suggestion that Glyn Davies, Peter Black or Carwyn Jones (all of whom are in favour of further devolution) are crypto nationalists! It isn't just an untruth, it is a libelous lie to suggest that they are.

The fourth lie of True Wales is their claim that support for their movement is going to stop calls for independence. I believe that Wales should be an independent country. A devolution referendum - which ever way it goes - is not going to change my mind or the minds of most believers in independence! Indeed a NO vote might even be beneficial to our argument and might hasten independence. A NO vote would prove that the slowly slowly catchee monkey approach of some nationalists is an abject failure and enthuse more to support my belief that we should be campaigning for "whole hog" independence rather than siding with devolutionist unionists!

The fifth and most potent lie of "True Wales" is their false claim that

True Wales members chose the name because they believe those wanting Wales to remain a full part of the United Kingdom have been "unfairly categorised" as anti-Welsh

It is not unfair to categorise those who believe that their own compatriots lack even the slightest ability to govern themselves as Anti Welsh . Anti Welsh is the nicest thing one could say about them. Treacherous shits, the bottom of the dung heap, a shame and an embarrassment to their own country are amongst the kindest terms that I can find to describe them. Blogger would probably close this site down if I said what I really think about them!

The official response to the launch of the quisling cause has been rather mute.

Deputy First Minister, Ieuan Wyn Jones, said that there was no need to set up a Yes campaign before Syr Emyr Jones Parry commission had judged the public response to further powers.

I agree with the thoughts of John Dixon, Plaid Cymru's chair who made the obvious point a few days ago that:

Opinion polls can help to inform that judgement, but they should never be allowed to become the determinant. There is otherwise a risk that we wait until the polls show that the argument has been clearly won before we start to present the case; and I don't understand how anyone would ever expect to decisively win any argument without putting the case.

If an YES campaign is needed it is needed NOW before UnTrue Wales gets a head start in peddling its lies. I can understand why more staid politicians might want to stand above the fray and not give the prats any credibility, but there is no doubt that a gauntlet has been thrown down. The "official" politicians might not want to take it up, but is that a reason for web politicos not to take up the gauntlet and run with it? One of the supposed strengths of political opinion on the www is its ability to galvanise support and create campaigns outwith the "official" channels. Can the web community pick up the gauntlet and create an enthusiastic Yes campaign?