3 Steps to Heaven, 7 to Independence but only 1 to Hell,

I will be 65 this year and as I look to the future i have a recurring nightmare followed by a dream.

The nightmare  has me in a nursing fully Compos of - of sound mind, memory, and understanding but unable to move or speak and there's some kind of Royal event on the Television and the staff have stuck a Union Hat Flag on my head expecting me to enjoy the spectacle.

The other has me still reasonable mobile standing in Cardiff Bay at Midnight on a July 31 in the future as we see the  Union Flag lowered and the Draig Goch raised as we face Dydd Gwyl Dewi and the dawn as an Independent Nation.

So I was interested to see Plaid leadership contender  Adam Price list his

SEVEN STEPS TO INDEPENDENCE

He writes

Here is my proposal. Every plan needs to be refined and developed further but here is an outline of seven key steps to securing independence for Wales by the end of the next decade.

1: Elect a pro-independence government for Wales in 2021.Plaid Cymru needs to be in government in 2021.  It is only Plaid Cymru who can do the necessary nation-building to secure independence. 

2: Pass a Wales 2030 Referendum Act.We need a nation-wide debate on our future.  By the end of the next decade, we will give the people of Wales a vote on self-determination. 

3: Set up a National Commission as part of the 2030 Process. Creating the new Wales is the work of the entire nation. The National Commission will oversee the 2030 Process and give Welsh citizens a say in what an independent Wales will look like 

4: Be bold, radical, and visionary.We must act as if we are already independent.  All we do must make Wales a healthier, fairer, more prosperous place to live. In 2026, we must win re-election, 

5: Reduce the gap between our income and our spending.We must show that we’re not too small for independence. By 2030, our fiscal gap can be sustainable and we’ll have proved that Wales is not too small to stand on her own two feet. 

6: Grow Wales’ economy.We need to improve Wales’ economic performance.  This will improve the lives of the people of Wales and make our independence an attractive and realistic option. 

7: Build a new Welsh media. Our nation needs a thriving media. A strong and diverse Welsh media is crucial to the national debate on our future.

Well it's a plan but and one that seems to be in two parts.

1-4 could easily be derailed in 2021 an Plaid fail to not only form at least a minority government if they fail then its put back five years and we will be in  2035 before we get a referendum and I will be voting at 82.

Even so as John Dixon points out we need not to wait so long.

The plan places a dependence on Plaid winning two Assembly elections before holding a referendum.That is a wholly artificial dependency.For sure, it took two elections ‘won’ by the SNP before Scotland held a referendum, but that was because they formed only a minority government in their first term and there was no majority in the Scottish Parliament for a bill calling a referendum.The real dependency here is that question of a parliamentary majority – it requires only one election victory for a party or group of parties committed to holding a referendum to be legitimately able to call one.It could be, of course, that Adam is assuming that any election victory by Plaid in 2021 would be as a minority administration rather than a majority. It’s not an unrealistic assumption, and if that were to be the case, then it would, of course,be necessary to postpone any referendum bill until there were a majority.And it’s equally true that a minority government committed to a referendum would probably reflect, at best, a lukewarm public attitude to independence.But if a party commits to not holding a referendum until it has won at least two elections, then it ends up with no legitimate mandate to hold such a referendum even if it were to win the first election overwhelmingly.then it ends up with no legitimate mandate to hold such a referendum even if it were to win the first election overwhelmingly.then it ends up with no legitimate mandate to hold such a referendum even if it were to win the first election overwhelmingly.

Indeed  I think Adam has put the Cart before the Horse as we need to develop the Idea of Independence throughout Wales and when people vote in every election it is Plaid they see as ensuring this and vote accordingly.

In this Brexit  and its aftermath should become the  Antithesis  of any plans  future Wales and the argument clearly made that we have the choice of either being Poor West Britons seen little more than an annex of a increasing right wing English Government, or an Independent Wales in Europe emulating the Social Democracy of the likes of Sweden and Denmark and of course an Independent Scotland.

There are Three Steps to Heaven and maybe Seven Steps to Independence  but there is only One step to Hell and by voting for Brexit we may have already taken the last one.