Welsh Socialist Republican Movement

Not to be confused with Welsh Republican Movement.

Welsh Socialist Republican Movement
Founded1979
Dissolved1982
Split fromPlaid Cymru
Merged intoCommunist Party of Britain
IdeologyWelsh nationalism
Marxism-Leninism
ReligionProtestantism

The Welsh Socialist Republican Movement (Mudiad Sosialaidd Gweriniaethol Cymru) was a short-lived nationalist political movement[1][2] which was born out of frustration with Plaid Cymru's failure to oppose the first referendum on Welsh Devolution in 1979 in order to map out a specific policy of arguing for Independence. It was also an attempt to develop a Welsh Socialist alternative to Plaid Cymru and it produced pamphlets and a newspaper called Y Faner Goch (The Red Flag).

In the early 1980s, following undercover police operations targeting student circles in Aberystwyth and Bangor, several WSRM members were arrested and prosecuted under the Explosive Substances Act 1883[3] for conspiracy to cause explosions and possession of explosives.[4]

After its collapse around half a dozen members joined the what would become the Communist Party of Britain,[5] some returned to Plaid Cymru, and others became active in issue-orientated movements.[6]

The socialist remnants published a couple more copies of Y Faner Goch ("The Red Flag")[7] and then reformed in the late 1980s to create Cymru Goch (Red Wales), a small socialist political party that lasted another 20 years, publishing Y Faner Goch until 2003 and establishing The Red Poets' Society, an annual poetry magazine that is active today.

  1. ^ Ellis, Peter Berresford (1985). The Celtic Revolution: A Study in Anti-Imperialism. Y Lolfa. pp. 94–95. ISBN 9780862430962.
  2. ^ Minahan, James (2002). Encyclopedia of the Stateless Nations: Ethnic and National Groups Around the World, Vol 4. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 2050. ISBN 9780313323843.
  3. ^ "Explosive Substances Act 1883: Section 3", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, 10 April 1883, 1883 c. 3 (s. 3), retrieved 23 March 2023
  4. ^ Revolutionary Communist League of Britain (June 1982). "Welsh Nationalists under attack" (PDF). Class Struggle, Vol.6, No.7.
  5. ^ "A Communist Christmas: In Conversation with Rob Griffiths". Soundcloud (Podcast). Desolation Radio. January 2018. Event occurs at 19:40.
  6. ^ Jenkins, Mike (7 August 2012). "The Legacy of Cymru Goch".
  7. ^ Crick, Bernard (1981). Unemployment. Routledge. p. 130. ISBN 9780416324709.