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A Language pressure group has now decided that it is too virtuous to engage with Gwlad at all.
At its annual conference on Saturday, Cymdeithas yr Iaith passed a policy, branding Gwlad a ‘far right’ organisation.
And it will now refuse to talk to the party in any shape or form under any circumstances.
The motion passed said the pressure group would refuse to engage with anyone whom in their words: ‘promote and tolerate prejudice against any groups, be they LGBT +, black people, migrants or women’.
Their new policy will also see them similarly refusing to engage with UKIP or the Brexit Party in Wales.
Stephen Morris, Gwlad’s Policy Director, said it was a disgraceful decision by Cymdeithas yr Iaith.
“This ‘far-right’ lie has been used against us from the outset, but it’s still a complete lie” he said.
“We welcome anyone to inspect our blog, manifesto, twitter or Facebook page and let us know if they come across the slightest hint of any ‘far right’ ideas”.
“On the contrary, they will find a party that has spoken strongly in favour of accepting people of all origins into the Welsh nation – rejecting the idea that people need to be born into any ‘ethnic group’ to be Welsh”.
“We have also placed an emphasis on the need for the Welsh-speaking community in particular to do its best to welcome people of all backgrounds.”
He said though that the party was perfectly willing to own its small ‘c’ conservatism in a Welsh context, and its broadly centre-right economic ideas, as these were the best ways to ensure prosperity and fairness for Wales.
Cymdeithas yr Iaith have been on quite a journey of late, becoming now more interested in the latest flavour of the month as regards identity politics it would appear.
It almost seems as if they’ve left behind the language itself, and Welsh language communities, in their relentless drive to be the most progressive group around.
A prominent ex-member we talked to described its latest decision as ‘absolute nonsense’.
The policy approved shows once again this desire amongst elements of the left to present themselves to be more virtuous than anyone else in society.
So much so, that even to talk to and engage with some people is now considered to be beneath them.
It’s one thing to refuse to engage with Gwlad, a new party who are only just becoming known in Wales.
But, in also saying that they will now refuse to engage with the Brexit Party, they are actually writing off over half the Welsh population, who voted for Brexit in the 2016 Referendum!
Cymdeithas don’t seem to appreciate the concept of the ‘marketplace of ideas’ and the importance of open and honest debate for a healthy democracy.
It’s not a good look to be honest.
And bad publicity for the language to be associated with such intolerance as well.
CYIG = ‘CRACHLETS’ GRAND CHILDREN OF THE MANSE THINKING OF THEMSELVES WHILST OUR HOMELAND IS VICTIM TO THE NEW COLONIALISM OF TAN 8 WIND FARMS AND TAN 6 OPD ‘SAISLEBENSRAUM’. GWLAD GWLAD NEEDS TO FOCUS AS AN ANTI – CORRUPTION PARTY (Jac exposes the gangsters) AND LEAD THE WAY IN CAMPAIGN AGAINST CHEQUE BOOK CONQUEST SUCH WOULD EXPOSE CYIG AND PLAID ‘YES’ CYMRU AS FRAUDS – DO NOTHINGS! WE FIGHT BACK HENCE OR IT’S CYMRU FIN! Gethin.
As an independent person, not a member of Gwlad, or of the Neil McEvoy-led new National Party I am at liberty to form conclusions about the stances and values of such bodies as a prelude to any decision I might make in the future. The recent accelerated drift of Plaid Cymru into the mess of downright juvenile ishoos renders it a hopeless prospect for governing our country either as a client/colony of the UK or as an independent state. That is a vacuum to be filled and it presents scope for the new parties to represent our real interests.
Cymdeithas yr Iaith have discharged a different function over the last almost 60 years. It has driven campaigns to secure some rights for the language and those who use it and participated usefully in campaigns in related social areas such as housing, property, education and work. However its formal venture into the arbitration of what is right in politics is several steps too far. One appreciates that an organisation whose hard core is “youth” can become a bit obsessed with idealised views about our society and politics. They inevitably end up on the so called left, although “left of what” is a question that can seldom be answered because the 2 dimensional linear model can’t generate meaningful answers in a world where the 3 dimensional is most common.
It leads me to conclude that Cymdeithas like Plaid has been taken over by an entryist crowd far more interested in their pet ishoos than in the long term prospects of Yr Iaith. So Plaid lost my vote some time ago and now it has somewhere else to go, now Cymdeithas loses my intermittent donation as I am not going to fund a crowd whose primary focus is some other cause while pretending to advance the welfare and prospects of my first language.