[This article originally appeared on our Facebook page] 

ALL the rage of late has been taking a knee for a political cause.

With a traditional sign of subservience and subordination bizarrely elevated into some form of a virtuous act for participants.

Perhaps Welsh First Minister, Mark Drakeford has been watching too many of these protests.

Since he has now taken a knee to the insistent tourist lobby in Wales, with his declaration that tourism can re-start here to all intents and purposes from July 13.

Maybe he’s also been taking orders from Labour HQ in London about all the restlessness in England at present.

And their diktat that allowing people to return to their playground here in Wales can help to defuse the tensions.

Despite all the frustrations of lockdown, one of the joys of the last three months has been the quietness and peacefulness all around here without tourists.

In a sense, it’s as if we’ve been able to reclaim our own country over this period of time.

And a man’s heart sinks to think of the tourist hordes despoiling our beautiful countryside once again.

We welcome the fact that the local Welsh economy is starting-up again today, with shops allowed to re-open. It’s high time to get things going again in this respect.

But we think that re-opening to tourism so early is a big mistake, as we are just not ready for that, socially or indeed psychologically.

Mark Drakeford has in fact missed a big opportunity here to boost the internal Welsh economy.

He could have declared that tourism was to be restricted for the time being, to Welsh tourism alone.

That is, to encourage Welsh people to visit places in their own country, and support the recovering Welsh economy in doing so.

Internal Welsh tourism is only a tiny fraction of the market at present, but it has the potential to grow into a key pillar of the economy.

With people getting to know different places in their own nation, and being able to appreciate and cherish those places, for the first time perhaps.

It could truly be a nation-building project in effect.