Why Welsh progressives must unite to stop Reform

As much as independence is desperately needed in Cymru the bigger threat is Reform. If Reform get anywhere near power or even influence in Cardiff Bay the prospect of an independent country could be put back years or even crushed forever as Cymru is eradicated. This sounds like an overreaction but the scenario is very possible. As the article rightly suggests the left is going to have to work together to defeat Reform. Reform works on a vote from discontentment and fear. The progressive left can counteract this by pledging to work together for the better of Cymru. People want politicians to work together and are sick of the bickering and fighting. The next election is a vote for a future Cymru or potentially no Cymru at all.

We Voted on the 20. What point is a vote if a gamed poll with little oversight overturns the vote.

Why does an English Reform shill like you spend so much time on a Welsh news website?

At least you recognise him for what he is with your words.

Because he is. Warnings from history writ large.

I think that Plaid Cymru would do well to drop any reference to being a progressive party. The term 'progressive' will be used by Reform [just as the right has adulterated the true meaning of 'woke'] to label political parties that describe themselves as 'progressive' as being more concerned with immigrants than with the wellbeing and needs of the British or Welsh for their cynical Senedd election purposes. Unfair, untrue but it will get Reform votes. Another reason for Plaid to distance itself from Labour is that this article implies that there should be some sort of informal pact with Labour. Which would only make sense for a struggling Labour party if the First past the Post rather than Proportion Representation were to be used. Or maybe Labour are reduced to looking for sympathy votes or a plea to voter nostalgia.

If you were a Labour or Tory apparatchik, what would you want from the elections in May 2026? Dismal poll ratings, two leaders and a chancellor who aren’t cutting it with the electorate and need to be replaced. Wouldn’t the best plan for GE victory in Westminster ~2029 or maybe even saving your party from oblivion, be electoral success for Reform? This would hasten the departure of failing leaders. A Reform led government in the Senedd would be handed the opportunity to screw up big time. Wales gets thrown under the bus to save the British establishment!

Welsh Labour progressive? Have you visited the valleys? Old fashioned Labour is a more accurate term to use.

Before someone mentions the 'Boriswave' let's remember that I, Mab, coined the phrase 'The Fat Shanks Effect' several years ago on N.C...

I sympathise with the author; but his labelling of the parties on the left as progressive does not stand up to close examination. They all love the “badge” of course; but Welsh Labour in particular have proved to be anything but progressive (and Plaid to an extent). The track record after 26 years is dismal and truly progressive reforms have been kicked into the long grass e.g. the regressive Council Tax system. Others have made salient points and people will simply look around them and vote accordingly.

Its more than just a political thing to stop reform. We need to make it a social thing too. Wales has its own beautiful culture, one that Reform want to exterminate, along with destroying our language and removing our right to democracy. People who want to remove these things are as great a threat as any terrorist or serial abuser and they should be treated accordingly in our communities.

While its true that Wales has always had strong community values that are the opposite of what Reform UK offers, unless Labour in Westminster delivers on the economic front for Wales via the HS2 consequentials and Crown Estate devolving to Wales, the economic background for support for Reform in deprived areas will continue to increase.

The term Welsh Labour is false. There is no such party. They just stuck the term Welsh on the front of the name to con us into thinking somehow they're different. As for deepening Welsh devolution they've spent years handing back powers back to Westminster. They do not support "properly funded public services, including the NHS and education" as they cut it and introduced fees. They say tackling inequality and protecting vulnerable communities but do the exact opposite, just funding their mates in the third sector to parachute in consultants and spivs. That's the reason many start turning to Reform. Just a question of whether Plaid Cymru can offer an alternative.

It's not just progressives. The entire pro-Wales alliance including moderate conservatives needs to suspend politics as usual in the national interest and temporarily get behind the only Party of Wales to kick the Abolish Wales party into history.

Reform is the New by-political party they need to rebrand again with a new name - Something lke the Reforming Tory party *“You reap what you sow— > and if you sow contempt, > don’t expect a harvest of trust. > Wales isn’t your proving ground, > it’s a nation with memory, > and we remember who tried to shrink us > into someone else’s margins.”*