Gareth Hughes over at The Welsh Almanac has been pondering on the effects of a Corbyn Victory what I found particularly interesting was his question of Plaids position in the wake of a Corbyn victory
He writes.
Where does Plaid go?
But it’s not only Labour that would have to reflect on a Corbyn victory but Plaid Cymru. As a party they’ve always positioned themselves as left of Labour. They could hardly push themselves to the left of a Corbyn Labour party.What intrigues me is the notion that Plaid Left-Right stance could or should be based on the position of the Labour Party .
So how will they respond? Will they try to re-position the party in the centre ground of Welsh politics with a move to the right? It’s unlikely that this will happen whilst Leanne Wood is leader but certainly the pressure will be on for such a move.
Its a pity poor political party whose policies depend on those of another party (Lib Dems for example).
As some one who when a Plaid member in the 80's helped formed the original National Left and pushed for Plaid to adopt "Decentralised Socialism" it was not so much as a response as to what was happening in the Left Right battle but what we felt was the best option for Wales and an Independent Wales at that.
Plaid might find easy to work with Corbyn on the opposition benches at Westminster but that does not mean they except his entire package .
Corbyn may be a change for the Labour Party on the Left-Right spectrum being more decentralised and "more democratic than his predecessors but my view is that it will be the same Old Labour Party.
Its not a case of Plaid positioning itself on the Left or Right of Labour it what kind of Socialist Principles it means on their Membership card and what kind of Independent Wales they envisage.
6 comments:
Hit the nail on the head. Good luck to Corbyn and our English comrades, but our future needs to be decided by us.
You are absolutely right, decentralised socialism is the right policy because its is what Wales needs.
In the unlikely event of Labour being a truly left wing socialist party then that would still mean they were a left wing British socialist party. And their 'one nation' philosophy will always mean they put the needs of the much larger English population ahead of the needs of Wales,
It could also free Plaid up to focus on highlighting the need for greater powers and full independence.
sorry but the term 'decentralised socialism' is utter twaddle - there is no such thing! it was of course a concept conjured up by the right wing hydro group in plaid in the late 80s in a bid to head off an attempt by socialists in plaid to commit the party to something much more concrete ie plain old 'socialism'! it was a classic fudge to try to hold plaid together, in the same way plaid fudges the issues of nuclear power and the monarchy.
the idea that socialism as applied in countries like england isnt applicable in wales is of course simply nonsense. Indeed it's this kind thinking that's given rise to the deluded belief apparently prevalent among some romantics that 'welsh bosses' are somehow more benign towards workers and their rights than 'english bosses'!
here's to a welsh socialist republic.
You are completely wrong in your explanation . Decentralised Socialism came about as a result of the loss of the of the 1979 referendum and the disaster of the subsequent of the following General Election which saw Thatcher coning to power.
Hydro opposed all mention of Socialism at every chance.
I always thought the Greens were a Pro- Decetralise party surely that means power should not be concentrated in Cardiff even under a Socialist Republic"?
Er the Greens might well be Glyn - but what has that to do with us? We dont speak for the Greens on matters. So how would decentralised socialism' work in practice? For instance what approach would be taken to areas like the railways, bus services and the utilities under 'decentralised socialism'? eg the traditional socialist approach - and the approach we support - would be to bring them into public ownership.
Similarly we believe in public housing, and would like to see council's being able to build houses again. Given the seeming antipathy to state and public bodies that define's so called decentralised socialism would then local councils have any role in public housing in wales? If not this might certainly explain why up until only a few years ago plaid supported the transfer of council housing stocks.
It might also explain why the then plaid controlled caerphilly council sold offl of the local municipal bus service to stagecoach in 2010? On the basis of the available evidence it would alas appear that plaid's 'decentralised socialism' isnt any kind of socialism at all glyn.
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