Gwlad! Gwlad?: An Invitation to a Party

Brexit - the decision taken to leave the European Union at the Referendum in July 2016 - has transformed the political landscape of the UK. All the old certainties have been upended and confusion and uncertainty are the orders of the day all round. The established parties have been completely poleaxed by Brexit, flailing around for answers and failing miserably on all fronts. In the midst of all this chaos, people all over the UK seem to be looking for new answers, politically, economically and socially. In Wales, the same sense of confusion and uncertainty reigns. Wales had received millions in European money over the past 20 years. But, like its neighbour England, the nation had decided to vote to leave the EU in 2016. What could be done? Was there any way in which Wales could respond to such a seismic political event? The generation traditionally associated with protest and activism - young people- seemed too lost in a world of technology, social media and consumerism to take any interest at all. Was it therefore up to middle-aged people to take up their mantle of activism? Could such a group (and mainly men) do anything about the crisis facing Wales? Gwlad! Gwlad?- An Invitation to a Party tells the story of the effort over the course of one year: to set up a new party to put the case for Welsh Independence at the centre of the political agenda post-Brexit. The group outlines their aim to become the first Syncretic Party in Wales and the UK - willing to consider ideas from across the political spectrum as long as these are beneficial for Wales as a country. The whole story is told from the perspective of an insider, someone who has been involved with the enterprise from the initial meeting in the Autumn of 2017 right through to the launch at the end of August 2018. He tells of the highs and the lows of this year, of the self-described `middle- aged wrinklies and their attempt to start up a new political party from scratch `Ein Gwlad( Our country). The idealism, the camaraderie, the spirited co-operation as well as the disappointments, the arguments, the set-backs and the fall-outs. It's a warts and all tale of one group of people's attempt to try and change the destiny of a nation. Aled Gwyn Job combines the fascinating tale of setting up Ein Gwlad over the year with commentary on political developments in a hugely eventful year for Wales and the UK along with snippets from his own personal life over the course of that same period. See more