Wales is stifled by remaining part of United Kingdom

Wales (Welsh: Cymru) has long been the poorest country that makes up the so called United Kingdom (UK). There are an increasing number of people in Wales who point to the country being part of the UK as a major block on Welsh economic development. One of the key arguments for Welsh independence is that Wales has remained a relatively poor country in what is a wealthy part of the world.  It is clear that beyond the UK, countries of comparable size to Wales and smaller are flourishing. 

There is an increasing awareness that Wales cannot afford to remain neglected and stifled as a member of the United Kingdom. The Westminster parties in power in London have no commitment to Welsh economic development or indeed to issues of education, health, infrastructure development and more. Not only does the UK suffocate Welsh economic development, there is also a transfer of natural resources to benefit England. Capel Celyn is one example of this. It was located to the north west of Bala in Gwynedd, in the Afon Tryweryn valley in the north of Wales. In what has been described as one of the darkest days in modern Welsh history, the village and other parts of the valley were flooded in 1965 to create a reservoir, Llyn Celyn, in order to supply the English city of Liverpool and the Wirral peninsula in northwest England with water.

There is huge potential for Wales to benefit from managing its own resources for its own development. Even though Wales has a thousand miles of coastline, five million acres of land and a number of untapped natural resources, it produces less renewable energy than elsewhere in the UK. As it stands Wales generates more electricity than it consumes and yet has some of the highest electricity costs in Europe. Projects such as tidal barriers in Wales have been prevented by the UK. The UK is known as having one of the most politically centralised states in the world, even after devolution for Scotland and Wales. As can be seen at the moment, with the internal trade bill, the UK government is actually seeking to strip powers back from the devolved governments. The position cannot be clearer and there is only one choice for Wales and Scotland - independence or continued suffocation of their full economic potential at the hands of the UK government.

Images: Marches in favour of an independent Wales courtesy of Nation.Cymru.