NATIONALISM AS A TOOL FOR PROGRESSION

Posted on December 14, 2021 by Norwich Radical in Inter|national, Perspectives and tagged cornish, cornwall, devolution, elitism, ethnostate, featured, independence, Kurd, land back, nationalism, onen hag oll, palestine, patriotism, refugee, refugees welcome, Rojava, Scotland, socialism, trespass, Wales.

by Sarah Edgcumbe

“Refugees Welcome” is a phrase commonly seen on placards at demonstrations held by the recently revitalised Cornish independence movement. Sometimes paired with other phrases such as “No More Second Homes”, “Fuck Yuppies” and “Tories Out”, the centrality of the statement “Refugees Welcome” at the forefront of the Cornish nationalism movement clearly flies in the face of conventionally liberal or left-wing wisdom, which automatically posits nationalism as right-wing and pernicious. We should instead recognise that “nationalism” doesn’t necessarily equate to ethno-nationalism, and that in parroting anti-nationalist rhetoric, we are likely regurgitating colonial propaganda. Anti-colonial movements fought for a collective nationalism defined by independence. Nationalism, then, cannot automatically be dismissed as a negative phenomenon.

MORE THAN CLEAR RED WATER, IS IT TIME FOR AN INDEPENDENT WELSH LABOUR?

Posted on October 1, 2021 by Norwich Radical in Inter|national, Perspectives and tagged Blair, centrism, corbyn, england, featured, hartlepool, keir starmer, Labour, labour party, party politics, Plaid Cymru, rhodri morgan, Senedd, speech, starmer, uk, Wales, Welsh.

by Jonathan Lee

As the UK Labour Party conference fizzles to an uninspiring close, the party appears to be as divided and directionless as ever. Keir Starmer’s long, heckle-drawing speech fell short on setting out a clear agenda for the party, but was big on Labour winning, winning, winning.

THE NIGHT THE REBECAS RODE OUT: LESSONS FROM WELSH RURAL RADICALS

Posted on September 6, 2020 by Norwich Radical in Perspectives and tagged charles napier, chartist, class oppression, class warfare, cool factor, david jones, featured, history, Jac Tŷ-isha, john hughes, merched beca, miners, radicals, rebeca riots, Rebecca Riots, revolt, South Wales, tax, taxation, toll, uk, Wales, Welsh, y ceffyl pren.

by Jonathan Lee

On the edge of my hometown stands a boulder about shoulder high, hewn from the mountainside, with the word “Rebeca” inscribed on its surface. It commemorates the night of the 6^th September 1843, when over a hundred working-class men on horseback rode out, in full drag, and destroyed the most grievous symbol of class oppression in rural Wales – the toll gate.

WANT TO KNOW THE SOUL OF WALES? LISTEN TO HER MUSIC

Posted on November 16, 2019 by Norwich Radical in Arts, Perspectives and tagged Aled Jones, arts, Bonnie Tyler, British, Bryn Terfel, Catatonia, Charlotte Church, cool cymru, cwl cymru, cymru, Datblygu, eisteddfodau, featured, Feeder, Gorky’s Zygotic Mwnci, Gwenno, hiraeth, John Cale, Katherine Jenkins, mining, music, Pais Dinogad, pop, Rebecca Riots, rock, Shakin’ Stevens, Shirley Bassey, song, Stereophonics, Super Furry Animals, Thatcher, the Manic Street Preachers, tom jones, Trampolene, Wales, Wales Act, Welsh, Yma o Hyd, Ysgol Sul.

by Jonathan Lee

The oldest known song in the British Isles dates back 1,400 years and it’s written in Welsh.

Pais Dinogad was sung in Rheged, a kingdom of Yr Hen Ogledd (the old North), in what is now modern day Cumbria and the Scottish Lowlands. The song is a simple lullaby, telling a baby of his father, Lord Dinogad, who is out hunting in a time long before Anglo-Saxons or even Gaels had arrived in this part of Britain.

It probably wouldn’t be described as an absolute banger if we’re completely honest (although this lyre-wielding, tattooed, metal-head gives it a real good go). It’s nonetheless incredible that it’s still being sung at all today, and that its lyrics are broadly comprehensible to modern Welsh speakers.Continue Reading

THE GREEN PARTY CAN BECOME THE PARTY OF THE RADICAL LEFT IN WALES

Posted on October 18, 2018 by Norwich Radical in Inter|national, Perspectives and tagged campaign, elections, featured, green politics, Labour, leadership, left, Plaid Cymru, politics, radical, Wales, Wales Green Party.

By Chris Jarvis

Earlier this week, the race to crown the next leader of the Wales Green Party kicked off. Mirka Virtanen, Deputy Leader since 2017 was the first to declare her candidacy. Two other candidates were announced in an email to party members but, at the time of writing, neither have announced their candidacy publicly.

DECOLONISE WALES: II

Posted on April 8, 2018 by Norwich Radical in Inter|national, Perspectives and tagged #decolonisewales, 1905, absentee landlords, All Blacks, British exports, Butes, Capel Celyn, Cardiff Coal Exchange, carnifal, cymreictod, decolonise, development, Dic Penderyn, Eisteddfod, environmental cost, featured, Glan Rhondda, Haka, hell, Hen Wlad Fy Nhadua, Herbert Asquith, human cost, Iago ap Euan, industrialisation, James James, Liverpool City Council, merthyr rising, metal works, miner, National Miners Union, nonconformity, north south divide, Pontypridd, postcolonialism, Prince of Wales, Red Flag, solider, South Wales, South Wales Coalfield, sport, Taff, Taff Vale Railway, Talbots, Thatcher, Trade Unionism, Wales, welsh government, Welsh language, Welsh Language Act, welsh national anthem, Welsh Nationalist movement, Welsh sporting events, Wild West, workers' power.

by Jonathan Lee

Decolonise Wales: Part 1 can be found here.

The Welsh National anthem was the first anthem to ever be sung at a sporting event. In 1905, when Wales played the New Zealand rugby team for the first time. Declining to sing the official “God Bless the Prince of Wales”, the crowd gave a spontaneous rendition of “Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau” in response to the All Blacks’ Haka. The song became a staple of Welsh sporting events from then on. Although until 1975 organisers refused to let the anthem be sung unless accompanied by “God Save the Queen”.Continue Reading

DECOLONISE WALES: I

Posted on April 6, 2018 by Norwich Radical in Perspectives and tagged #decolonisewales, 1847 Royal Commission on Welsh Education, Barwyg, Benedictine, Catwg, Christianity, church, collective denial, colonise, colony, cooperative, cymru, decolonise, division, Ecclesiastical Appeals Act, Elementary Education Act, england, Englishries, exports, featured, Henry VIII, Illtud, imperialism, Index of Negrescence, John Beddoe, language, merthyr rising, Meuthin, miners strike, monasticism, Newport Rising, oppression, picket line, Rebecca Riots, settlements, St David, Tonypandy miners strike, Wales, Welsh, Welsh Chartist Movement, Welsh language, Welsh Not, Welshries, William Lamb, Winston Churchill, working class, Y Brad y Llyfrau Gleision.

by Jonathan Lee

Content warning: this article mentions racism, discrimination, oppression, and racial / cultural slurs.

“If the Welsh are striking over hunger, we must fill their bellies with lead” are the famous words Winston Churchill never spoke, about sending in the Lancashire Fusiliers to put a swift end to the 1910 Tonypandy miners’ strike.

Though he never advocated firing on the miners, he did send the soldiers to the picket line, and was definitely still an imperialist, eugenically-minded war criminal. The only reason the quote is mistakenly attributed to him so commonly is because it is so utterly believable. It typifies the contemptuous colonial attitudes held by the man himself, and the English parliament, for the Welsh and the working class.

Wales was England’s first colony – the template for later British imperialism. Many of its basic strategies were forged here in England’s closest and very first colonial asset, before being exported all over the world.Continue Reading

VOTES AT 16: IT’S TIME FOR TORIES TO CHANGE THEIR MINDS

Posted on February 18, 2018 by Norwich Radical in Community, Perspectives and tagged awareness, conservartives, elections, engagement, england, featured, local election, norfolk, Northern Ireland, Norwich City Council, politicians, Scotland, vote, votes at 16, voting, voting age, Wales, welsh government.

by James Anthony

In January 2018, it was announced that sixteen and seventeen year-olds in Wales will be given the right to vote in their local elections, under proposals set out by the Welsh Labour government. Along with Scotland, where votes at sixteen is already reality, Welsh policy will now be at odds with England and Northern Ireland where the voting age for any sort of election is eighteen. The idea that someone who is exactly the same age and has just as many years in education as another can be denied the right to vote based on location is extremely unfair. Perhaps it’s time the Conservative government reconsider their position on the voting age.

If the national government are seemingly ok with this being a regional disparity, why not allow it to take place in areas where there is clearly a desire for it? Just under two years ago, Norwich City Council voted unanimously for a proposal which asked for Norwich to be used as a possible ‘pilot area’ for allowing 16 and 17 year-olds to participate in local government elections. Disappointingly, but perhaps unsurprisingly, I couldn’t find any official response to this request from the government although if it exists, I suspect it would be in essence – ‘piss off’. Continue Reading

“I LIKE MY REVOLUTIONS TO BE FUN” – AN INTERVIEW WITH BEANS ON TOAST

Posted on December 1, 2017 by Norwich Radical in Arts, Music That Matters and tagged activism, alternative, anti-capitalism, Beans on Toast, Bobby Banjo, Brexit, capitalism, Cushty, DIY, Donald Trump, Essex, festivals, folk, Frank Turner, free party, Giant Wafer Studios, Glastonbury, Independent Venue Week, inequality, interview, Jenna Jones, jeremy corbyn, Labour, live music, london, Manchester attacks, Matt Millership, music, music venues, musicians, Naomi Klein, No Logo, Norwich Waterfront, poverty, protests, renewable energy, royal wedding, She Drew The Gun, Skinny Lister, social media, songwriting, squats, tony blair, Tristan Ivemy, Wales, Will Varley, Xtra Mile.

by Rowan Gavin

Today, Essex-born folk singer Beans On Toast releases his ninth album, ‘Cushty’. Last night, I saw Beans play live for the ninth-ish time (if I’m honest, I’ve lost count, but the symmetry is pleasing). If you’ve been to a British festival in the past decade you’ve probably run into Beans as well – he’s the kind of musician who pops up everywhere. With a new album out every year since 2009, he’s perpetually turning up in your town on tour, or supporting one of his many musical friends, or appearing at festivals you didn’t know he was on the bill for.

IF NOT NOW, THEN WHEN? – STUDENTS AND THE ELECTION #6

Posted on June 6, 2017 by Norwich Radical in Student and tagged #GE2017, armed forces, Article 50, austerity, buses, clive lewis, commentary, cuts, education, end poverty, EU, EU citizens, EU referendum, exit poll, Free Education, general election, Green Party, higher education, jeremy corbyn, journalism, Labour, left wing, Liberal Democrats, living wage, london, manifesto, MPs, Northampton, norwich south, NUS, Parliament, politics, polls, prime minister, privatisation, public services, rent, rights, shadow cabinet, snap election, student politics, student vote, students, Students and the Election, Sure Start, tactical voting, tax, theresa may, Tim Farron, Tories, UEA, UEA Labour Students, universities, voters, voting, wages, Wales, work.

from a member of UEA Labour Students

In the midst of multiple crises faced by students, universities and schools, the outcome of the snap general election will be a major indicator of the future of the UK education sector. Each week until the vote we are featuring perspectives from our regular contributors and guests on what the election could mean for students.

Having resolved to sit down today and write this article, I’m struck by the appropriateness of my day. I caught the bus to UEA from outside one of the few remaining Sure Start centres, a public service provided by the last Labour government which has been decimated by the Conservatives (and Liberal Democrats) since 2010. My bus was 40 minutes late, the consequence of a privatised, under-funded service – and even the previously UEA-hosted launderette I went to had been privatised since I last used it. It served as a strong reminder of the power of Labour government to change lives for the better, which contrasts with the crumbling services and privatisation festival that has characterised the last 7 years of Conservative and ConDem government.

Wales

NATIONALISM AS A TOOL FOR PROGRESSION

by Sarah Edgcumbe

MORE THAN CLEAR RED WATER, IS IT TIME FOR AN INDEPENDENT WELSH LABOUR?

by Jonathan Lee

THE NIGHT THE REBECAS RODE OUT: LESSONS FROM WELSH RURAL RADICALS

by Jonathan Lee

WANT TO KNOW THE SOUL OF WALES? LISTEN TO HER MUSIC

THE GREEN PARTY CAN BECOME THE PARTY OF THE RADICAL LEFT IN WALES

DECOLONISE WALES: II

DECOLONISE WALES: I

VOTES AT 16: IT’S TIME FOR TORIES TO CHANGE THEIR MINDS

IF NOT NOW, THEN WHEN? – STUDENTS AND THE ELECTION #6

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