AN attempt to cancel one of the speakers at next weekend’s YesCymru Conference has failed.

And the whole attempt has been described as political child’s play, which it’s high time the independence movement grew out of.

A group of left-wing organisations had written to YesCymru Chief Executive Gwern Gwynfil, asking him not to include Gwlad Leader Gwyn Wigley Evans at the scheduled “Question Time” session at the conference on Sunday.

The groups – Undod, Melin Drafod, Cymdeithas yr Iaith and Labour for an Independent Wales – had described Gwlad as an “extreme right-wing party”.

They also submitted a number of documents which they claimed was indisputable proof of that.

But the Chief Executive dismissed this “evidence” and confirmed that he would not withdraw the invitation to Gwlad.

Gwald Policy spokesman Stephen Morris had produced a detailed document refuting each of the examples provided by the groups involved.

He said there was an important principle at stake with this not just in terms of freedom of speech but also in terms of the nature of democracy itself.

“We don’t expect everyone to agree with us – indeed we accept that other people in the independence movement will disagree strongly with our position, and we disagree equally strongly with theirs” said Dr. Morris.

“But there’s a big difference between disagreeing with someone and questioning their character and the right they have to hold their position.”

He added that the complaints lodged by the groups involved were childish nonsense.

“There is not a shred of evidence that Gwlad has ever tended towards extreme right-wing ideas” he said.

“Indeed, we have consistently stated our opposition to racism and any notion of “racial purity” here in Wales over the last few years”.

One of the articles complained about was an article produced by this author on August 10th, 2020, as a response to the then YesCymru Committee’s intention to appoint a “Diversity and Inclusion Officer”.

Witch Hunts

I suggested in that article that an appointment like this would split apart the movement and lead to “witch-hunts” against individuals.

And that’s exactly what happened, with one prominent member of YesCymru, Nikita Jones, being victimised in a very nasty way on social media as the movement fell to pieces during that turbulent period in its history.

Another thing that strikes one as odd about the correspondence the groups sent to YesCymru was that they had no objection to the British Tories being on the Question Time.

Which suggests they’re happy enough to have the Tories there as a convenient whippping boy for them.

But they are fiercely against the inclusion of an genuinely Welsh party, more traditionally oriented, which offers a distinctively different vision to the Welsh people.

Beyond the narrow and intolerant thinking of the groups involved, it is also possible to discern that their target was not Gwlad in earnest, but YesCymru itself as a movement.

After all, the movement has gone in a very different direction since the appointment of a new executive committee and a new Chief Executive last year – showing a desire to work together with everyone across the political speculum to promote the idea of independence.

There’s even a YesCymru Conservatives group in the process of being formed – a logical move given that one independence poll showed that 11% of Conservative voters in Wales favour independence.

Most people would find these attempts to reach out and try to extend the conversation about independence very commendable.

But for some others in the national movement – who have always seen themselves as “the natural rulers of the project” – this must seem like a very threatening development.

I wonder, then, whether the letter sent by these groups was an attempt at a “shot across the bows”, to warn YesCymru against being too ambitious in terms of these new endeavours.

Lest too many new people and too many new ideas compromise their standing within the movement.

But be that as it may, we can only be thankful that this latest example of “cancel culture” has failed.

Wales is not America and we need to be very careful not to adopt some of their crazy habits here.

Wales has always been a country where people are free to speak their minds, and long may that continue.