Calls for Welsh Independence Face Scepticism Despite Barry March
More than 6,000 demonstrators filled the streets of Barry over the weekend, participating in the latest March for Independence. The event, held on Saturday and organised by YesCymru in partnership with AUOBCymru, aimed to rally support for a Wales separate from the United Kingdom. Families, activists and campaigners from across the nation gathered, bringing a visible display of the rising conversation around Welsh independence.
Since 2019, marches like this have popped up in towns and cities across Wales, including Caernarfon, Wrexham, Swansea and Cardiff. Organisers chose Barry this year, underlining its historical significance as a centre for the Cymru Fydd movement in the 1890s—a key campaign for self-government in Welsh history.
A main rally took place at King Square after the march, where prominent voices in the independence movement took to the stage. Key speakers included former Plaid Cymru leader Leanne Wood, Catalan independence campaigner Anna Arqué i Solsona, and Green Party spokesperson Tessa Marshall. Singer-songwriter Eädyth Crawford also performed, with local councillor Mark Hooper hosting the proceedings. Notably, this year’s rally placed a special emphasis on amplifying women’s voices, with all speakers and performers, except the MC, being women.
Live performances, notably from Emma Winter of Y Llais (the Welsh version of The Voice), punctuated the day, reinforcing the cultural pride and sense of community at the heart of the push for independence. Yet, amidst celebratory scenes and impassioned speeches, broader public sentiment on the movement remains divided.
In responses gathered from Wales Online readers, significant scepticism was voiced regarding the practicality of independence. Concerns centred around the economic sustainability of Wales, with arguments highlighting the nation’s historic loss of heavy industry and a reliance on the public sector. Critics questioned whether Wales’ current Gross Domestic Product could support the extensive public services on which citizens depend, especially without financial inflows from Westminster.
Some readers challenged the effectiveness of the Senedd, Wales’ devolved parliament, suggesting that self-government to date had not delivered decisive improvements for ordinary people. Such views reflect a persistent uncertainty amongst portions of the population as to whether increased autonomy equates to tangible progress.
Others cited the longstanding dominance of the Labour Party in devolved Welsh politics, expressing a desire to see how newer political movements like Reform and Plaid Cymru fare in future elections. Meanwhile, the question of national unity versus division raised its head, with some appealing for Wales to remain a core part of the United Kingdom. For critics, the cost of devolved governance has sapped resources that could be directed to areas like healthcare, while others worried about how a population of just over three million could viably sustain an independent nation-state.
Yet, the most radical critiques took aim at the wider system, asserting that genuine progress required large-scale change beyond independence. Some argued that social challenges—crime, addiction and poverty—are deeply entrenched and unlikely to be solved via constitutional reform alone. The caution was raised that breaking away from the UK potentially risked amplifying pre-existing issues within a smaller political and economic structure.
Proponents of independence, however, maintain that Welsh self-determination offers the greatest opportunity for shaping a fairer and more responsive government. The debate continues to elicit passionate arguments on all sides, with events like the Barry march showcasing a movement determined to raise its profile—even in the face of formidable obstacles.
As the independence campaign continues to grow in visibility, Wales finds itself at an inflection point. The next year promises to be pivotal, with upcoming elections providing a crucial test for the movement’s real-world support. The discussion is far from over, and the future direction of Wales remains an open and vigorously contested question.