Sunday 2 September 2007

Our Right of Self-Determination

In the UN’s Declaration of Human Rights it says that everyone has the right to a nationality and that no one should be arbitrarily deprived of a nationality. It establishes the principle of self determination in which every nation is entitled to a sovereign territorial state, and that every identifiable population should choose which state it belongs to.

A State is a legitimized administrative and decision-making institution. A state may be internationally recognised, and only states may be admitted as members of the United Nations. The United Kingdom is such a State.

A Nation is an identifiable population that shares either a common descent, language, culture or religion. Maybe more importantly, it is a population with a shared sense of identity. Wales is such a Nation.

States do not always coincide with nations, but when they do, the resulting Nation-State is usually a stable, cohesive unit with shared purpose and legitimacy. Denmark is a good example of a modern Nation-State.

There have been a number of examples throughout history of attempts to create Multi-National States – eg the Roman Empire, Austria-Hungary, the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia. These all relied on powerful central authorities to group different peoples together in a larger unified state. But as soon as the central authority lost its power, then so the state fragmented into its natural constituents – its nations.

The United Kingdom is also a Multi-National State with far more in common with these failed states than the government would care to admit, and if history is anything to go by its days are numbered.

Gordon Brown is attempting to make us all feel more British is an attempt to turn the UK (or is it only Britain?) into more of a stable Nation-State by emphasising a shared British identity, instead of the fragmented Welsh, Scottish & English identities. But unfortunately for him this is too little, too late. There are very few ‘British’ institutions for him to build on, and those few – for example the British Army, the Royal Family – are declining in importance with every year that passes, while the sense of Welsh, Scottish and even English consciousness grows daily. This can not be overturned by mandatory flag waving or creating artificial public holidays.

For the time being I carry my British passport in my pocket out of necessity - but I carry my Welsh identity in my heart with pride.

I demand my right of Welsh nationality, and the right to live in a sovereign Welsh state.

8 comments:

Unknown said...

And I know a certain gentleman in these parts who still carries his Welsh passport with him, and has used it effectively to make the point!

Anonymous said...

Ioan Estron's comments are a waste of time and will be deleted! I suggest that you ignore the troll!

Unknown said...

As we know the Kurds are a nation,
the Basques are a nation, the Palestinians are a nation. Who has the right to deny such a people nationhood?
The fight for justice will continue
and Wales will achieve statehood despite efforts to deny it from within and without.

Anonymous said...

I want to be both British and Welsh. Are you going to deprive me of that given the opportunity?

Alan, you talk of your fight for justice. Your definition of 'justice' is not the same as the majority. You should not force your will upon everyone else.

Anonymous said...

What if We the Welsh determined not to go independent? Would you then shut up for a while?

Independence4Celts said...

Ryan, if you do not want this, then why are you here. Listen I'm Welsh, my father's British (Welsh) and my mother's British (English). They have a choice they can move away and still be English/Welsh/British, whereas I want an independant Wales so that I can still say I'm Welsh. If Wales was independant you can still be Welsh and British; as Northern Ireland and Cornwall will still be part of the United Kingdom.

Michael Andrews said...

The notion that the few British institutions that remain are as limited in number as the royal family and the armed forces.

What about the BBC, BAFTA, EMI (the British record label that brought us the Beatles), the British banks, the National Health Service and the UK Parliament itself.

The term 'British' (to describe the United Kingdom) was coined by a Welshman -- it was an attempt to embrace an identity which would be inclusive of the whole of the new United Kingdom.

This identity continues to be held by most of the Welsh today. It is a small minority who believe that independence is the way forward.

The National Assembly has been a marked step forward for us to have our own say in important matters relating to our home nation -- this is as far as we need to go, as I can see no advantage in separating ourselves from the rest of the UK but many disadvantages in breaking a bond which has lasted for nearly a milennium.

I think your post is quite reasoned though. Most Welsh nationalists I know are unreasoned twerps who speak constant gibberish.

Steelshanks said...

WHAT NONSENSE, YOU WELSH SHOULD REMEMBER YOUR PLACE WHEN YOU WERE CONQUERED BY THE ENGLISH LOL THEY WALKED ALL OVER YOU

THE ENGLISH ARE JUST AS BAD TOO THOUGH, THEY WALKED OVER EVERYONE AND ENSLAVED PEOPLE