Tell that to the Finns

A good letter by Duncan Lewis in the Western Mail today:

Tell that to the Finns

SIR – So Peter Hain is churning out the same old cliches as a substitute for reasoned argument (Wales must stay in the UK, Jan 15). Does he really believe that Welsh people have no knowledge of how other small countries are prospering in the modern world?

Does he believe that we never travel to Ireland or Norway or even to the newly independent European nations like the Baltic States?At least the Western Mail editorial comment was more balanced and rightly points out that as yet the Welsh people have not been persuaded on the case for independence.

But isn’t this just a lack of confidence rather than the way things have to be? Surely the Welsh are no less talented than the Irish, Norwegians, Latvians and countless other small counties around the world. Mr Hain says that our world-class manufacturing such as Airbus would disappear.

Try telling that to the Finns, Nokia seems to do OK. He says that our public services could not survive without that extra £1,000 a head from England, well New Zealand and Norway seem to have public services that we can only envy. And as for Mr Hain’s case that we would lose influence around the world; if that means we stop using our clout to launch illegal invasions of other counties, then great, I’ll sign up to that.

DUNCAN LEWIS
Caerwent, Monmouthshire

Once countries have tasted independence there's no way back.

Two more excellent letters in the Western Mail over the last few days:

Jan 26 2007, Western Mail

SIR - If it were true that we would be better off in the UK vis-a-vis worldwide representation and influence than as an independent state, then that must also apply to other small nations.

How come then, the Republic of Ireland hasn't begged to rejoin the UK and the Baltic states, the Ukraine, Georgia etc, haven't begged to go back in with Moscow, in a reactivated Soviet Union?No way on earth! Because once countries have tasted independence and enjoyed all the privileges and freedoms which come with it - there's no way back.

As an independent country, we could become a full member of the European Union, have the Euro as our currency, have a delegation at the European Central Bank, have EU Welsh passports, have the status of EU working language accorded to Welsh, something the UK refused to do! Also, we could join the United Nations and Welsh would become a recognised language there too.

One of the most striking freedoms independence would give to individuals, would be the right to call themselves Welsh abroad, to be Welsh passport holders and not to have to hide their true nationality behind a bastardised, concocted one.

It matters not what lies Hain, Blair and Brown spew out at us Scotland is now on the verge of independence and Labour are running scared as never before - panicking in the process.

Let's not be bought off cheaply by the St Athan nonsense, as most of the 5,000+ jobs will doubtless be filled by people from across the border. Now is the time for Plaid Cymru to start selling independence to the Welsh people, instead of sitting on their laurels waiting for the people to lead!

GARETH ROBERTS
Vale View, Tredegar, Blaenau Gwent

Jan 24 2007, Western Mail

SIR - Instead of contesting the May elections, Plaid Cymru might be better employed supporting the Scottish National Party's bid for power. If the SNP is successful then independence will be on the agenda for Wales as well as Scotland. Otherwise, Wales might be the very last country in the world to achieve constitutional freedom, if ever!

All this is anathema to Gordon Brown for whom every nationalist vote is a nail in his political coffin, which is why he resorts to old Labour scaremongering, that independence for Scotland (and Wales) threatens the break-up of the United Kingdom. Besides the fact that the UK is a contrivance, it has no real purpose other than to serve the glorified interests of Brown and the Westminster political establishment, so the sooner it is dissolved the better.

But what is particularly disgraceful about Brown's latest scaremongering is that he attempts to equate constitutional independence with economic independence, whereas anyone with a whiff of intelligence knows that no newly-independent nation has ever contemplated the latter. Nevertheless, Labour's bogeyman will be paraded around the hustings in May to frighten voters into believing that an independent Wales and Scotland will starve to death.

Ten years after the very same arguments failed to stop devolution, I hope the electorate is strong enough not to be blinded by Brown's "balkanisation" scam.

In fact, this was not the most astute comparison for him to use when talking of the threat to the Union. The Balkan states were created after the break up of another empire, Turkey. Today all, apart from one, are independent, the smallest Montenegro with a population of just 750,000. None of these put economic considerations before their independence. They must pity Scotland and Wales!

JOHN HUMPHRIES
Usk Road, Tredunnoc, Gwent

Intimidating union

Another superb letter in the Western Mail today, this time by Huw Jackson. Original content will be added to this blog soon, we promise!

SIR - Hain, Brown and Falconer ask us to consider the benefits of the Union when defending the not-fit-for-purpose institution called the UK with such passion.

Let's consider a few of them: Waging war for control of Iraq's oil; committing billions to the nuclear deterrent and spending billions on the Olympic extravaganza in London. All these paid for by Welsh taxes as much as anybody else's. The payback for Wales is to be condemned as one of the poorest areas of Europe, with jobs like Burberry's disappearing down the plug hole, our young people priced out of their communities, our railways stuck in the Victorian era and a comedian as First Minister.

Never mind, says New Labour, there is strength in unity and the UK can influence (ie intimidate) the world. There will be a few gold medals at £50m each and Londoners will have their expensive 21st century city.

Using emotive language such as Balkanisation is an insult to all the people on the island of Britain. What if Wales and Scotland vote for independence in a democratically held election? Is Hain suggesting England is going to take on the role of Serbia and send in the troops against its smaller neighbours to keep his Greater England? New Labour is only interested in power and they are scared of losing it. More power for the Welsh people through their own parliament means less power for Hain and his cronies. Independence will mean that it's not just Wales that will be better off without the UK, it's the whole planet!

HUW JACKSON
Gipsy Road, Welling, Kent

English domination

Excellent letter by Gwyn Hopkins in the Western Mail today:

SIR As well as being shockingly misleading, Peter Hain's article (Western Mail, January 15) reveals grave deficiencies in our part-time Secretary of State's understanding of quantitative issues.

After discussing the prospect of only English MPs voting on English issues, he states, "The reality is that England would come to dominate the Government of Britain as a whole", as if this was not already emphatically the case. There are 529 English MPs out of a total of 646, so that 82% of MPs represent English constituencies. The governing Parliamentary Labour Party has 356 English MPs from a total of 425, ie 84% of its MPs are English. With "controlling interest" in any organisation being 51%, it is crystal clear that these overwhelming majorities already equate to complete English domination of the UK Parliament.

Mr Hain describes Wales as a "tiny nation". Aside from the derogatory connotations of the word "tiny" - such as insignificant and negligible - to which he obviously subscribes in relation to Wales, in worldwide terms he is very wide of the mark. Six of the 27 member states of the EU are tinier than Wales (population 2.9 million) and 32 of the 53 members of the British Commonwealth (60%) are smaller. Sixty-three of the 192 UN member states are tinier than Wales (33%), including some of generally high esteem such as Jamaica (2.8m), Cyprus (0.75m), Singapore (2.7m) and Kuwait (1.6m).

The contrast and inconsistency between the UK Parliament's determination and enthusiasm in defending the independence of Kuwait - half the size of Wales - in the first Gulf War and its (and Mr Hain's) tendency to ridicule the possibility of independence for Wales could hardly be starker.

GWYN HOPKINS
Cleviston Park, Llangennech, Llanelli