WELSH independence will come “sooner rather than later” was the take-home message in Methyr Tydfil yesterday as more than 5000 people gathered for the latest All Under One Banner Cymru march and rally.

Speakers at the event included former international footballer Neville Southall, sports commentator and former Wales rugby international Eddie Butler, playwright and poet Patrick Jones, and singers Eädyth and Kizzy Crawford.

Yesterday’s was the third march organised by AUOB Cymru. Previous marches in Cardiff and Caernarfon in May and July are estimated to have attracted 3000 and 10,000 participants respectively.

Plaid Cymru’s shadow minister for international affairs Delyth Jewell said: “When over 5000 people attend a Welsh independence rally in Merthyr, you know that change is in the wind. People can see that Boris Johnson’s lying, sordid government does not have Wales’s interests at heart.

“The fact that they’re willing to sacrifice people’s livelihoods on the altar of a regressive No-Deal ideology is contemptuous and I’m very proud of the work Plaid Cymru and SNP MPs have been doing in Westminster to stop them in their tracks.

“Merthyr is rising, Wales is rising and Welsh independence is coming, sooner rather than later.”

This newspaper was also present, achieving another publishing first with a Welsh edition. Around 2000 copies of the free special edition were distributed to the marchers.

READ MORE: In pictures: 20,000 marchers throng streets for Perth indy march

The National:

Featuring eight pages of news plus sport, the bilingual giveaway included stories in both English and Welsh. It also featured an exclusive article by Adam Price, leader of Plaid Cymru.

Southall told the marchers: “This is the greatest country in the world, but it’s no good having a dragon if the dragon cannot roar. And at the moment we cannot roar because we don’t have any money.

“We need to build a country that looks after the lowest of the low. We need to take everybody and treat them the same. There should be no class system in Wales. Everyone should be the same.”

The National:

Kizzy Crawford said she was there because she was “disappointed with the racism, fascism, unfairness and chaos” of recent UK politics.

“I think fighting for independence is a way to combat this chaos and make a difference,” she said.

Butler added: “I’ve been waiting for this moment, this awakening, for a long time.”

Chairman of the Yes Merthyr group Phyl Griffiths suggested the tide was turning in Wales. He said: “The shenanigans in Westminster this week are the best recruitment tool for Welsh independence.”