Scottish independence, should Wales want them to go... yet 

Excellent video with concise explanations of a complex subject. I particularly like the 'coma' analogy. Natives in the States are just beginning to reclaim their cultures, religions and languages after 500 years of English, Spanish, French, Portuguese and French colonialism. The road is long and steep but, just as in Cymru, there is a growing sense of 'possibility'.

I would like to see Scottish independence before I blink out of existence, tyvm.

Excellent Video.. incidentally given the low audience figure for this.. I would strongly recommend conducting a series of Town Hall events across Wales. I will post this on my face book page also to hopefully get some more views. As a Gog working in England one issue that seems consistent when I go back to North Wales is the level of critique the Northern Welsh have on Cardiff and the Senedd with respect to equal distribution of investment between North and South. We need to develop lines of communication between North and South with a view to helping make Wales a complete nation as opposed to two Principalities in the form of North and South. Our culture and identity lie with the people of Wales and until we develop these links between the North and South we will remain divided. Also I completely agree that Wales has been consistently misrepresented within our current political system driven through Westminster. Simply put we need PR across the UK that way we can have a true picture of the political and ideological preferences of the people of Britain. I believe in an independent Wales either as a nation in its own right or as a nation within a confederation where it can govern and tax itself as appropriate. Cymru am byth.!

Perhaps one day there will be a "British Federation" replacing the United Kingdom. The current U.K. is a very lop-sided affair with dominated by English culture and London politics. This Federation would be an equal partnership between the 4 local cultures and local languages. England, Northern (?) Ireland, Scotland and Wales would have their own seperate political identities with England actually having an English parliament rather than Westminster. The only need for the Federation to come together as a whole would be in regards to international trade or international defence.

Children need to be brought up bilingual in Wales - NOT taught Welsh in separate lessons but naturally interchange the languages from the offcin all lessons .

YES👍️ SCOTLAND INDEPENDENCE🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

I have ancestors from all parts of the British Isles .I pray that the rare, beautiful culture of Wales will endure. Forever.

Very interesting. I hope a Celtic Union in the EU or EFTA will be the next step for Scotland, Ireland and Wales.

Sorry, John, we (Scotland) can't wait 3 years never mind 30. All the forces you've been talking about are already in play in Scotland. The devolution settlement is well down the road to being rendered worthless. If we (Scotland) want to keep anything of our culture and economy then the exit must be within the next couple of years. A British Federation I'm afraid is a pipedream requiring one of the most centralised political systems to give up power, can't see that happening...

My main criticism of the video is that, this new nationalistic England is isolationist not expansionist. If it is true that 49% of English tories would vote for English independence, if it is true that a fair number of tory brexiteers think losing Northern Ireland and Scotland would be a worthwhile sacrifice to achieve brexit. If all that is true, then this is not a nation about to start annexing parts of Wales or any other country.

Can you do a video on why northern England should be independent. As a northerner I feel more attached to Wales and Scotland than I do the south/London. They never gave a shit about us down there and there is definitely a divide.

Very, very good analysis of an incredibly complex problem. Don't be sorry, it's not depressing at all, it's clear thinking in troubled times. Personally I am neither Welsh, nor English, nor Scottish. I'm French and I see much the same problem arising in Brittany (Breizh on this channel ;)) . Full disclosure: I'm not a Breton either. But I do feel a pang of regret that Breton culture is also endangered, eventhough there are a few positive developments like Breton speaking schools. Very good work indeed. Keep it up

I mean, there's substantial differences in voting in the region's of England, especially in the North of England it's historically been mostly labour, not to mention various independence movements such as the Yorkshire party and Northern Independence party. Ultimately the biggest divide in this country (the UK I mean) isn't weather you're English, Welsh, Scottish or northern Irish, or if you're southern or northern in England, it's class, and we should all do well to remember that.

Interesting you should mention “inheriting” a party, particularly in the valleys. I wouldn’t be necessarily say that is correct. The Labour candidates in many places in wales, including the valleys are the co-operative party candidates (they don’t sit on their own - but as a joint candidate with Labour. I always recall my gran mentioning the “cwop” growing up - and according to many valley jokes and stories the “cwop” was a common feature. And the concept of co-operative movement binds people together. The strike action by the coal miners… it bound people together. It is interesting you consider what is best for you when voting for a party. But I think that in South Wales what is best for *us* is what is best for *me* - or at least when it comes to voting. Many may not realise that their candidate is Labour and the co-operative party, nor understand what the co-operative party or ideal is. But it is ingrained in Labour. And I think it is what makes Welsh Labour different to English Labour. For me I see voting Tory as voting for “me” as a singular, not us as a community, looking out for number 1. To survive Wales has to survive together, collectively. I vote plaid. I think Labour supports wales, the welsh language, our cultural identity- but it just can’t seem to make that break, Drakeford lacks the confidence, or boldness, that is needed. Fortunately I think times are changing at least in some areas of wales. There has been a boldness in some counties in changing schools into welsh medium schools, and prioritising their building - even in English speaking areas. But we need to be far more bold.

I left Wales when I was 12 and lived in England for the next 20 years. One day, I was sitting at home and the phrase 'bydded ir hen iaith barhau' came to my mind. I had to look up the meaning. "Long may the old language endure'. It blew my mind that I had been carrying that around in my head for 20 years, and I didn't even know what it meant... anyway hopefully a signal that no matter how deeply buried, the Welsh identity can resurface. I'm a supporter of all national independence movements: Irish, Welsh, and Scottish. My belief goes even a step further: I believe ultimately, independence for all these nations is not enough. England itself needs to break free of the antiquated system of Westminster, the monarchy, the Tories, the House of Lords... the whole lot needs to go. The entire thing needs to be started again/brought into the 21st century. England is in a pretty dark place these days, but it's also possible there will be a backlash there against all of this corruption and misrule, eventually. The best case scenario in my opinion is that Labour wins in 2024, implements proportional representation, and then English politics fixes itself. Once sensible politicians start being elected again, then a discussion could start on a true Federation, with equal rights to all parts of the UK. But if everything goes for the worse, and somehow the present state of crisis continues for years or even decades, then Wales will need to seek its independence. Thanks for the video, great to see serious thought being given to the land of my origin. :-)

FYI, there were riots all over Scotland when the Treaty of the Union was signed by paid cowards. Also, Scotland has the Scottish Claim of Right to protect her people. Finally, Scottish Gaelic is one of the original known languages in Scotland before Scots. You forget that Ireland, Wales and Scotland were originally Celtic...

Yes to the King Edward vid!

Massive constitutional change coming in northern ireland too. there certainly are complications and it is not clear how it will play out. However it is clear that eventually and constitutionally, massive change of some form coming in northern ireland.

Your voice is really calming.

In France, Brittany is seen as quaint rural area for French people to holiday in. Sound familiar? The local languages Breton and Gallo are not recognised as official languages of France. Sound familiar? Brittany was absorded into France during the 16th century. Sound familiar?

I'm really surprised at how little support there seems to be in Scotland for supporting the Gàidhlig language and reversing its decline. How can anyone not support a language that sounds that gorgeous! With its cool-looking downward pointing accents. If i were somehow made first minister of Scotland I'd instantly impose a nationwide Gàidhlig Only policy (and hurriedly start learning the Gàidhlig, haha!) Seriously though I do find it depressing watching the most gorgeous language of these isles getting weaker and weaker and seemingly no-one in politics wants to save it😢

I'm scots/irish here in Australia mate. Don't let any of your language or culture die. When Latin is attacked, we must fight back. When the church is attacked, we must fight back. Jesus my lord must be protected

Independence for Yorkshire? Larger population than Wales, bigger economy than Scotia. Only place in the UK that could be truly independent from the London Parliament

This is a bit tangential, but the more I think about this, the more it makes sense to me for a country to consider the alternative of having a rent collecting government instead of a tax collecting government. Here, what's made me thought of this is the holiday house problem. I think I get what the problem is in a "physical" kind of way - by way of a comparable experience, because I've seen a town full of better than just really nice houses, all standing empty. They're well kept, but it wasn't holiday season, so they were all empty. I don't think in this case it takes anything away from anyone (because all the houses are new builds, not buy-outs - largely because local houses there are "too small to be comfortable", otherwise that would be what happened.) This concrete example I'm thinking of (just a "paragon" of the phenomenon, which is common all along our coasts) is Hermanus near Cape Town. It's a really nice place, but the new suburbs where the holiday houses are are just strange, and would not be what you would want in what should be the living heart of your home town (they're not; they're out of the way - so maybe that idea gives some "holiday home compromise room" if ever it's needed). Why such a big holiday house? I don't think it's to display with - well not entirely, since a big house is a display more than it's necessary accommodation. I think the main reason is just to fit in. Hermanus is a candidate for being "the best" - so the most expensive - so having an average house built by someone with more than an average wealth (big farmer, doctor, successful medium size businessfolk, that kind of thing, rather than lords and ladies, or Randlords and Randladies). The houses on either side of the stand you buy as an extra piggy bank are a blend of seaside-humble-down-to-earth and grand (strange, nê?), and that pretty much constrains you to build something similar if that's what turns into your lot in life. (Haha: Lot ... in life ... ok, maybe not so funny). If you tried to build a genuine modern era fisherman's cottage, your neighbours would fight you in court, because the "home" is really just a way of storing savings, and only secondarily a place you can go on holiday to without paying a year's rent for four to a room in a tight space, for two weeks. This "physical" understanding (if that's what it is, and isn't just my imagination) is of seeing the holiday homes, or being in their midst, off-season, and getting some sense of how much money is being mis-invested there, along with that eirie silence amid well tended houses. A ghost town but someone washed the windows, and the curtains look new. Now imagine that the local government nationalizes the holiday homes - not in anger or as a kind of "act of war", just to change the future main source of revenue from an impediment on investment in active economic entities to the "passive income" sources available, instead. (It's broader than rentals, but rentals are the easiest way of getting into the concept.) You pay market value, but maybe in a kind of "local investment bond" which only allows investment in things that generate wealth. (So into "Capital" instead of "Land". In this point of view, Capitalism is not the devil, and the big problem is that we're drifting back toward "static wealth" - which ultimately drifts back toward other static things like stationary stations one must not get above, and one's place, which one must know, and remain stationary in - just like a house just sits there in its place and doesn't do very much.) You buy out the holiday homes (if that's the sensible place to start - and maybe it's not), direct the compensation from that to more active investments, and then the government starts to collect rent - presumably at holiday rates during holiday season, so allowing mothballing through the rest of the year if you can't find people like students to live there between seasons. I like the idea of keeping this kind of thing maximally peaceful/ conflict-free by making some kind of special allowance for the family whose home away from home the house was, before. Give them first priority as holiday tenants at a favourable rent, even. It's not a big concession to make. It only needs to last approximately half a lifetime, which is nothing in the grand scheme of things. I think the rent instead of tax idea might work for all the things people just sit on and deny access to, in the long run. I don't know the numbers that apply today, or how they'd evolve, given this way of doing things, so I don't know if this could entirely eliminate income tax, but it might be worth it even if it just eliminated, say, the bottom two brackets? Nice thing about going over to rent collecting is there would be no need for "rent returns". And it's not so easy to commit "rent evasion". Also the government has its own set of values, so its own investment case for building at least some "minimal housing" (I'm thinking the Japanese version of minimal, here - just to make it maximally cheap, or permitting excusing the rent or giving credit for this at the lowest possible cost to the rest of society, when this is necessary.) Anyway, I've gone on too long here, and on a tangent, as confessed _ab initio_ . I think some people might think objections to holiday homes are a bit strange, but I feel like I get it. And I have a very very very very long way of saying so. Diolch.

A brilliant intelligent analysis. Diolch. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

Diddorol iawn Ben. Cytuno hefo dy ddadansoddiad bod Cymru yn wahanol iawn i'r Alban a does dim diben cysylltu achos y ddwy wlad yn ornodol. A ti'n iawn hefyd mai gwarchod ein hiaith a'n diwylliant ddylai gael y flaenoriaeth gennym. As far as independence is concerned, yes, Scotland going it alone could lead to a Greater England mentality.On the other hand, it could lead to a long needed English revolution, where that nation finally decides to reform itself, and deal with its London/South East imbalance, and find itself as a wider nation .Whatever path the bigger two nations around us decide to follow: we need to chart our own course . The proper linguistic and cultural renaissance will lead naturally to independence.....within ten years perhaps .

I'm a supporter for independence and you say a lot of interesting things. I hope the English are level headed and wont do anything stupid. They should learn from their history violence with us doesn't go well and we want peaceful neighbours. You gloss over Scottish Gales though. Talk about letting your Celtic cousins down here. Please if you haven't pick up a copy of "the highland clearances" by John Pebbles. We had a 1000 year old history of struggle against English imperialism and we won. Until the Scots (as you mentioned cut of the same cloth) accepted the act of union 1707. Consequence the two Jacobite rebellions. They were big factors in the source of the soldiers supporting the Stuarts. "Nae to Union, Prosperity to Scotland" engraved on officers swords.

Great video, and I totally get the sentiment and yearning to preserve one's culture. All I would point out is that Edward the 1st spoke French and was, so it seems to me, of a mindset akin to your common-or-garden EU type in the levelling of culture, rather than that of the average Englishman, who just wants to be left alone, as I would argue. If your neighbours had been predominantly Norman-French, then, I put it to you, your language may have gone the way of Gaulish many centuries ago. I wish beyond hope that Cumbric was still spoken (it is, to an extent, if you consider Cumbrian sheep counting systems - Yan Tan Tethera, and all that) but I would love to see you do a video on the significant part that Picts, Norse-Irish and Gaels played in its demise. None of them come up smelling of roses, so it seems to me. I am not English, but am wary of what could become a selective retelling of history, especially when attributing blame and cause.

Agree with two main aims... spread the language and Welsh identity using devolved powers, but what has Scotland to do with it, UNLESS it gains independence. Then the spit hits the fat!

So many similarities with the Basque Country. Really interesting

The English Upper class use Scotland and Wales and Northern Ireland as a reminder of the glory days of empire, Wales and Scotland will allways be 4th rate behind England and as long as you accept this fact the the status quo will be very simply that you will be ruled by the English, until you decide to change this position then you will never be considered either a country or a people, the Scottish people are starting to realise this and maybe enough will take Scotland to the nations of the world, until they take the Plunge they in the eyes of the world will allways be an English colony. Wales is in the same place so I say Saor Alba. And hopefully Wales will think about it. At least think about it.

The Gauls never became a minority and they never died out. They abandoned their language for the prestige of Latin. Indeed the French still regard the Gauls as their ancestors

Do you have any source or further info on this Llandudno Madog street?

Ben has a lovely voice.

Or Yankee roads in the South, Yankee roads in the Southwest (original northern half of Mexico), Yankee roads in Puerto Rico, Yankee roads in Hawaii, Yankee roads in the Marianas, Yankee roads in Alaska, e.t.c..

I'd suggest you get a move on, 'cause Scotland ain't staying.

The Scots are not an 'Anglic' people, we're an anglicised people. Like the Welsh of the Valleys of the Irish of Dublin. My grandfather spoke Gaelic, a Celtic language. Scotland is like Ireland, in fact more people speak Scottish Gaelic as a first language even today than speak Irish as a first language

Can I ask, your accent sounds a mix of Scots and Irish not Welsh . Albanach

freeeeeeeeedom

Yes you are so correct to point towards Ireland as an example for how things can go very wrong in a short time Ireland in the 15th century, you used the word Unionists cringe at Plantation, it was used by Henry VIII, Elizabeth I, James I, Cromwell, as suppression and reward for keeping power, an agreement to allow Ireland keep her parliament was seen as a major threat to Westminster and post the terrible Rebellion of 1798 post American and French Revolution when the only time until the 20th century Protestant and Catholics supported independence and were crushed under foot by military might. This led to The Great Famine, Ireland became the breadbasket of Great Britain until the potato crop failed and Ireland was abondened to its fate. The 1910 to 1918 period everything changed 1916 is a warning to Wales, the revolution on Easter Week was not supported, but the executions drove the Republican movement to driving Britain and Unionists out at the point of a bayonette and barrel of a gun whatever hope of holding on to Ireland entirely was gone and the two most hated people in Ireland 1916 to 1922 were two Welshmen Asquith and Lloyd George. Ireland today is in the last 50 years heading away from The UK, England and more back where it was pre Viking era to Europe, there is a Celtic Mystic identity you find in Wales, Brittany, The Highlands and Western Isles of Scotland, even the Basque and area of Austuria and of course Ireland, in my area there were Anglo English still some left but ask at Six Nations time you see the Blood Red and Dark Blue not a Red Rose in sight.... You walk into a pub see people watching baseball Lithuania flags everywhere, change and inclusion.

Why isn’t Greece called Romano Greek, why isn’t Egypt called Romano Egypt, so why are the British called Romano British, it’s an attempt to get rid of everything British, their history their language and their culture, no Welsh pottery have ever been found, it’s either Norman, Roman or Iron Age, no Welsh swords have ever been found, it’s either Norman, or Iron Age, King Arthur was taught in schools in Glamorgan being king of Glamorgan and Gwent up until the 1920s , it was in the school books, there is no mention of the Welsh, British being Celts in any ancient manuscript or book written by the Welsh Saints , only in 1690 was it used, it’s a modern thing, conceived by Edward llwyd, then the Hanoverian kings, they were German, they got rid of our Anatolian Hebrew migration history and replaced it with a Celtic one

Luckily we'll get that extra time considering the current state of the snp😂

Very true, as You need to also join the EU. You will never do that chained to England and the racists who run it.

Enbrace your Welsh Heratage, culture and Language as the Scottish, and Northern Irish do and join us all better together in the EU. A union who will respect you and your culture.

Welsh was a “semi-official” EU language. We shouldn’t forget that insult either.

I presume these figures are based n the 2021 census data.

I don't think it's a good idea. It would be a big mistake for Scotland. Don't be another Ireland.

In fact Wales is one of countries with high GNP in the world.

No because there celtic cousins ..uea right the English genetically are closer to the scottish then the welsh are to the scottish so the question is just ridiculous why would the welsh evan care

Whether Welsh people should "publicly support" Scottish independence or not & wait for 30 years to grow & safeguard Welsh culture before going for independence is irrelevant. All three unionist parties, Conservative, Labour, & Liberal Democrats are refusing to recognise democracy in Scotland where the SNP & Green Party hold a majority & both had an independence referendum in their manifestos. Many Labour voters in Scotland also support independence, as many as up to 40%. The recent Scottish Attitudes Survey (taken last year) shows that support overall was at 50% mostly due to Brexit. Included in the movement for independence are non political groups such as English for Independence, Veterans for Independence, Women for Independence, Business for Scotland & more recently Europeans for Scotland who lobby for Scotland to be "publicly supported" by politicians in the EU to have a welcoming attitude to Scottish independence. An independent Scotland would most likely support Welsh independence but it would have to be shown how Wales could develop it's economy sufficiently out with Westminster control although rejoining the EU would be almost unworkable due to the number of border crossings & movement between NW England. If you can't "publicly support" Scottish independence, at least support the democratic & sovereign right to hold a referendum & then say nothing at all (publicly) ✌☮

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 WALES NEEDS TO GO FOR INDEPENDENCE...WALES is WALES and we should have a BOURDER.....

19th October 2023 Scotland v's Union Scotland, goodbye lol :)

Scotland is leaving

Bs

Wales should wean itself off subsidies to have its claim for indy taken seriously. Til then, stop being ridiculous

Credaf bod llawer o dy pwyntiau yn eiffa cywir, sylwaf yn amal bod llawer o phobl yn diffig y abl I siarad cymraeg ond Mae cymreigdod yn problem llawer dwfnach. Sai'n credu bod llafur nag plaid Cymru yn arweinwyr da am ein gwlad mae llafur yn gweid beth bynag sydd wishe I enyll pleidlais cryf, a erbyn hyn Mae plaid yn addo amryw o waniaeth polisiau rwydd dym yn hapus gyda. Credaf yn llawer o pethau yn ychwanegu gadel y IE, mae hyn yn datblygu o fy syniad bod angen anibyniaeth arno ni Cymru er mwyn I ni cymhwiso dewysiadau amdano'n hunan all ein cysylltu ac ymuno Mel cymuned.

There’s nothing patriotic about breaking up Britain. Scottish nationalism doesn’t even make sense, the Scots language is an Anglo Saxon language. They’re the same people ethnically.

Niki Sturgeon said that only Scotland and England were countries and that Wales was not. Therefore I don't support her, her policies or her party.