Welsh Independence: Practical? Desirable?

Comment

Comment by Ceri Shaw on July 11, 2008 at 5:31pm

From the page:-"Here are some of my thoughts on how we can retain and enjoy our Welsh culture:..."

Excellent article from BethNesaf

Comment by Ceri Shaw on July 9, 2008 at 2:10pm

305.pdf

Plaid Cymru manifesto for 2008 council elections.

Comment by Ceri Shaw on July 9, 2008 at 11:02am

Historic day for Wales....first Welsh law for a thousand years:-

LINK

Comment by Ceri Shaw on July 8, 2008 at 7:55pm

Varying estimates of the success of the One Wales Agreement in its first year:-
Plaid leader hails coalition’s achievements

Comment by Gareth Williams on July 5, 2008 at 3:45pm

Compulsory conscription only truly works well under an unifying threat. Its not cost effective in 'peacetime' whatever peacetime means cos there has only been one year since 1945 where a Brit soldier has not been killed.
Politicians sometimes spout off about the potential long term benefits of a poulance who have had a coupla years military discipline, I got mixed feelings on that. Real soldiering is so hard that you have to love it to do it without a drama. Like a lot of jobs if you love it it does not feel as burdening, like an extension of childhood cowboy n indian games, and Im not being flippant, its just that it suits some and not others

Comment by Ceri Shaw on July 3, 2008 at 4:42pm

In between discussing plans for a future corrupt Latin American style dictatorship ( see elsewhere in this group ) we have at least managed to sustain a reasonably serious level of debate in this thread ( by our standards anyway ). Job da everyone. In complete contrast to our usual tone of levity, jolly japes and jocularity, here is a serious article on the subject of a future independent Welsh military:- ARTICLE

Comment by Ceri Shaw on July 2, 2008 at 1:34pm

I'm no expert on military matters ( far from it ) so if anything I'm about to say is utterly absurd please tell me. It seems to me though, that any future Welsh army should be proportional in size to its population and to current peacetime manning levels in the BA. So...if the population of the UK is 60 million (approx) and Wales population is 3 million (approx), we should be responsible for about 5%. I dont have precise figures but I recall years ago reading that the British Army was approximately 100,000 strong ( 10 divisions?) in peacetime. I dont know if that figure has changed or even in what period it would have been accurate. But , supposing that it were accurate, that would mean Wales should have a standing army 5,000 strong ( leaving reservists out of the equation for the meanwhile ). In peacetime of course, this force would not have much to do, beyond being available to back up the police if the Cardiff City Soul Crew got seriously out of hand...lol. I realise that training and international policing duties in "troublespots" would also be a very significant factor. In the event of a "party", since its unlikely that Wales will invade anyone in the near future, it seems reasonable that this force should be under the command of the overall UK military ( subject to some Foreign Policy arrangement between Cardiff and Whitehall ). With regard to the office debate referred to by Gareth in an earlier post...I dont see the need for any other force . Assuming that Birmingham is up to date on its water bill payments we should be able to equip our own land forces. Presumably though we would need to pay something into the kitty to sustain the RAF and the British Navy. As with any scheme like this the devil is in the detail and the precise amount that we paid would be the subject of endless beaurocratic haggling. Maybe a discount on the aforementioned water bill would cover it:). All in all what I'm suggesting is that we should finance our own land forces and chip in ( a whip round in the pub...whatever ) to sustain the Navy and Air Force. OK so tell me....how ridiculous is that?

Comment by gaabi on July 2, 2008 at 9:56am

Does any other country or group of countries do that - pay into a common pot? Is there another model of this to look at?

And, Gareth, what do you think of mandatory military service? The UK doesn't have that, right? It's like ours, you sign up?

Comment by Gareth Williams on July 2, 2008 at 6:52am

This has kicked off a heated debate in the office I share here and while we are supposed to be filling in recruits training booklets with tests they have passed, instead we are discusing politics on taxpayers time. So I'll have to stop and return to work soon. The objection I'm getting is that Wales would still need to pay into a UK defence pot for a greater UK army capable of enforcing foreign olicy on the world scene and how could such a small nation afford both. Anyone fancy helping me on that score. I gotta admit its a good point. Bastard!

Comment by Gareth Williams on July 2, 2008 at 6:25am

So in fact what you'd have is a lot of old boys like me, saves me from becoming a driving instructor in Llandudno!!!!! So its purely selfish all this quest for independence
Gaz

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