STILL TAKING BACK CONTROL?

When it comes to 'Taking Back Control' the key question that still should be asked (and answered) is with whom will the 'taken back control' now reside. Perhaps the real question we should be asking is not about taking back control, but, more to the point just to who, we are about to surrender control too? From the perspective of Cymru / Wales the answer may be certainly not with us. 

Previously an over centralised unionist British State (whether nominally socialist, avidly free market capitalist, or desperate to reduce the day to day impact of the state, they all failed to deliver for Cymru / Wales before - so why is it gong to better this time around!  A re-badged re-centralised ubber unionist Brit State 2.0 is even more unlikely to deliver in any meaningful way for us in the future. 

Previously led by Teresa May (once described by a fellow conservative as Enoch Powell in a dress) and now led by Boris - it should be pretty clear that Cymru / Wales as far as Westminster is concerned no longer counts - economically or politically - particularly if it's left to the likes of Boris Johnson, Gove and their ilk. As we approach however ponderously the threshold of some sort of post BREXIT political and constitutional era, we need to more than every urgently clarify the constitutional position of our parliament in Cardiff. 

Devolution is here to stay, the process remains incomplete and our journey continues - the people of Cymru / Wales not Westminster politicians will decide on the length of the journey and our destination. To paraphrase Abraham Lincoln, you cannot be half devolved - you are either fully devolved or you are not devolved at all - there is no halfway house. The latest on-going cluster ruck over delivering BREXIT had exposed the fundamental difference that lies behind, beneath or within the mind set of the politics, that emanates from and revolves around the House of Jaw (Westminster). 

Our National Assembly should have similar powers to those of Scotland - so it can reboot our economy and our communities, deliver social justice and rebuild our transport network after the damage done by years of neglect, indifference and incompetence from Westminster.  The key point here is that at a fundamental level, Plaid Cymru has long believed that sovereignty lies here in Cymru / Wales with the people of Wales. It does not lie with or within that over expensive crumbling gothic monstrosity on the Thames - the Westminster parliament or its inhabitants. 

This simple all encompassing principle needs to be clearly stated and articulated as often as necessary.  Post BREXIT before the Westminster based centralisers get to work wrecking and undermining our developing democracy (and the other devolved administrations) we seriously need to consider a declaration of sovereignty for laws passed in Cymru / Wales by the National Assembly. This simply is a declaration that will give laws passed in Cymru / Wales ( ‘our own laws’ ) precedence over those that emanate from Westminster.