THE REASONS AGAINST WELSH INDEPENDENCE
Peoples voice is against Welsh Independence not on anything other than its not the right road...as we explain below.
Introduction
The question of Welsh independence is a topic of increasing debate in recent years. Advocates for independence often highlight the potential for greater self-determination, cultural renaissance, and national pride. However, there are compelling economic arguments suggesting that an independent Wales could face significant financial challenges, potentially resulting in a poorer nation compared to its current status within the United Kingdom.
Current Economic Support from the UK
Wales currently receives substantial fiscal transfers from the UK government. According to recent data, public spending per person in Wales is higher than the UK average, whilst tax revenues generated in Wales are lower than the average. This fiscal gap is filled by transfers from central government, which help maintain public services, welfare, and infrastructure. If Wales were to become independent, it would lose automatic access to these transfers, creating an immediate budgetary shortfall.
Tax Revenue and Economic Base
The Welsh economy is smaller and less diversified than those of some other UK regions. Major industries such as manufacturing, agriculture, and tourism are important but often low in productivity and vulnerable to external shocks. The tax base is therefore narrower, with fewer high-earning individuals and corporations compared to England or Scotland. Independence would require Wales to bear the full cost of government spending, without the benefit of cross-subsidisation from wealthier parts of the UK.
Currency and Fiscal Policy Challenges
One of the key uncertainties for an independent Wales would be its currency arrangements. Establishing a new currency could lead to instability, higher borrowing costs, and a lack of investor confidence. Alternatively, using the pound sterling without formal agreement (as some propose) would leave Wales without control over monetary policy, limiting its ability to respond to economic crises. Either scenario could negatively impact growth and investment.
Trade and Market Access
Currently, Wales enjoys frictionless trade with the rest of the UK, its largest trading partner. Independence would likely necessitate new trade agreements, and any barriers—whether regulatory or tariff-based—could disrupt key sectors such as agriculture and manufacturing. Given the geographical and economic integration with England, even modest trade barriers could have outsized effects on Welsh businesses and employment.
PLAID CYMRU'S FIRST 100 DAYS
PLAIDS 100 DAYS COULD TURN OUT TO LONG NIGHTS OF PAIN?
Once again, Plaid Cymru has unveiled a so-called 'first 100 days' declaration, promising to revitalise Wales and improve the lives of its people. However, a closer examination reveals little substance behind the rhetoric. The proposals appear to mimic Labour’s approach, focusing on creating unnecessary commissions and panels that mainly serve to generate jobs for their political allies rather than deliver genuine progress. Given Plaid's history of operating under Labour’s influence, it is hardly surprising that these initiatives lack clear direction, meaningful timelines, or coherent funding strategies. Their track record demonstrates repeated failures to enact meaningful change, instead perpetuating the same cycles of bureaucracy and indecision that have hampered Wales for years.
Plaid Cymru’s Proposed Government: A Recipe for Ineffectiveness
Plaid Cymru’s latest proposals are yet another example of the party’s penchant for setting up commissions and panels without delivering tangible outcomes. Their repeated announcements of new bodies, such as the National Development Agency, lack any sense of urgency or clarity, with no timeline for implementation and no clear indication of where funding will come from. This absence of financial planning or strategic vision only serves to highlight the party’s inability to turn promises into action.
Furthermore, the focus on Cardiff Capital Region raises serious concerns about neglecting the rest of Wales, suggesting a narrow, regional approach that ignores broader national needs. The commitment to establish a panel of business and economic experts to ‘refine the remit’ is little more than an admission that Plaid has no clear plan, instead recycling failed ideas and rewarding those who have previously demonstrated little success.
The Plaid government’s intention to convene a future skills summit and create an economic and fiscal commission for data analysis sounds impressive at first glance but is fundamentally hollow. As Mr ap Iorwerth himself notes, without a comprehensive understanding of the challenges, the government is hamstrung in its ability to plot a meaningful course forward. Given Plaid’s longstanding partnership with Labour, it is remarkable that they remain unable to diagnose the issues or propose effective solutions, raising questions about their competence and experience.
Plaid Cymru’s pledge to extend a preferential multiplier to support town centre hospitality, leisure, and retail is a well-intentioned measure, but lacks detail on execution and funding. Their stated aim to address the over-complexity and duplication among regional economic initiatives, such as city and growth deals, freeports, and investment zones, only underscores the muddled thinking that has plagued Welsh governance for years. Many of these initiatives are not even devolved matters, further demonstrating Plaid’s failure to grasp the realities of government and partnership with the UK Government.
Overall, the pattern is clear: Plaid Cymru’s government would be marked by indecision, bureaucracy, and a lack of coherent strategy. Their history of working under Labour’s shadow has left them unable to break free from cycles of administrative inertia, making meaningful progress for Wales unlikely. The proposals are nothing more than empty rhetoric, promising change but delivering little substance.
My take on Independence for Wales...and the Labour/Plaid wasted years!
What I’m saying is that Plaid are permanently playing the victim while demanding handouts, special treatment, ‘reparations’, achieves little but reinforce others’ perceptions of our inadequacy.
If enough people are to be won over to the idea of independence then devolution must improve life in Wales with the promise of independence making things even better.
Unfortunately, the independence movement in Wales is dominated by people who’d make a loss selling beer at a rugby match. They make grand gestures with money given by London while running essential services into the ground. They want independence in order to make even grander (and more futile) gestures, apparently unaware that with independence the money from London stops.
Which might explain the desire to get back in the EU, for the handouts, thereby exposing that Wales is a poor country run by clowns with not a clue how to improve things.
Perhaps we could ask England for ‘reparations’(Sic).
Ian Williams 08/04/2026