Statement from Plaid Gomiwnyddol Cymru / the Communist Party of Wales

July – 2024

Almost a month into our (public) existence, we’ve had many interesting and supportive conversations with comrades across the world, but also some points to clarify on us and our existence.

1. We are the Communist Party of Wales, not ‘a communist party in Wales’ – our entire party is structured within Wales, we are active in every county in Wales and are looking to build from this point.

2. We’re not running any candidates in this election, our prime focus is on organising outside of an election period. Whatever happens and whoever wins, we’re the only party in Wales you can count on to still be on the streets on the 5th of July.

3. We fight for the independence of Wales on all fronts, we fully and entirely reject an independent Wales joining the EU – this is not independence, this is selling the working class out to the banks.

4. We haven’t split from any British communist movement, nor from any liberal independence movement. We grew out of the Welsh Underground Network, to form the Marxist-Leninist Communist Party of the Welsh Socialist Republican movement. The Communist Party of Wales is pleased to have deep, fraternal links with our comrades in the Welsh Underground Network.

We recognise the importance of making these points clear at this stage, we recognise that right now we are not the only party to call ourselves communist in Wales, however we assert that we are the Communist Party of Wales, we are the most politically developed, and the most committed to our fight.

We recognise in years to come, this point will no longer be necessary for us to make as it will be crystal clear. We also recognise that we haven’t arrived via the traditional form- we have not come out of a bitter split between two movements! Of course, we have some members that came from the traditional British left, some who came from Plaid Cymru and Yes Cymru, and some who have never been politically active before – recognising that no party before ours fully represented them.

We also want to make it abundantly clear – we support a fully independent Wales, not a federalised Britain. We assert the right of Wales to self-determination, and we fight for a Socialist Republic of Wales. We view our movement as an ally to those in England and Scotland, and to the Irish in the fight for reunification. The argument that our self-determination ‘splits British working class unity’ is based on electoral gerrymandering, and nothing more. The Labour Party and her lapdogs seek to “maintain the unity of Britain” to increase the likelihood of returning a Labour Party to Westminster, as Wales traditionally votes Labour. We also reject the anti-Marxist view that Welsh independence is bourgeois – for it to be bourgeois, we need a Welsh bourgeois class to support it, something which does not exist!

Finally, we are pleased that we have had immediate interest in people joining us. We are taking applications now and we will contact applicants after Cyngres in September, where we’ll be setting our immediate tasks following this establishment period which is now drawing to a close.