MORE than half of all voters in Wales who backed Labour at the 2019 General Election would back Welsh independence if a referendum was held tomorrow, according to a new YouGov poll.
The survey, commissioned by YesCymru, showed that 51% of respondents who voted for Labour said they would vote for Welsh independence with 49% against.
The polling also showed that the majority in Wales believed the power to call a referendum on Welsh independence should lie with the Senedd rather than Westminster.
With those who didn’t know removed, 55% of respondents backed the Senedd having such powers with 45% against.
Despite, the rise in support from Labour voters, the overall number in favour of independence has stayed the same, with 32% in favour and 68% against.
Though among the younger generation, there is rising support, with 43% of those in the 18-24 year old category backing independence, and 42% of those in the 25-49 year old category saying that they would vote yes.
A spokesperson for Labour for an Independent Wales told Nation.Cymru:“In 2017, support for independence within Welsh Labour supporters was only at around 20% but now it is a majority at 51%,” they said.
“This is the first poll to show such a majority but we do not expect it to be the last. The current actions of the Executive in Westminster are troubling and all serious democrats, socialists, and fair-minded people should be looking at independence with fresh eyes.
“As we in Labour for indyWales have long advocated, Labour supporters want self-determination and a fairer country. more and more people know that we won’t get that in the UK.
“It is an unbalanced Union where even our Senedd, our Welsh Parliament, can be overruled, ignored, and stolen from. Welsh Labour should not see independence as a threat to be tackled, but rather as an opportunity – to build a fairer and more socialist country.”
Siôn Jobbins, chair of YesCymru – the campaign for an independent Wales – said that the figures were “incredible”.
“It’s clear that Labour supporters are now backing independence as the best hope for making Wales a better place in which to live and defending Wales from Westminster policies.
“They have been let down time and again by the Westminster system – rich communities have got richer, whilst poorer communities have become poorer and hollowed out.
“People only need to look around them to see the stark failings of being ruled from Westminster despite Wales being a country rich in resources.
“They live in communities ravaged by failed austerity policies that have put the City of London ahead of the people of Wales.
“It’s only with decisions about Wales being made here in Wales that we can put the happiness and well-being of ordinary people at the forefront of government policy.
“People in Wales also see that 55% of people in Scotland support independence and that the SNP will hold a referendum on independence. Wales can’t afford to put its head in the sand. The Senedd needs to have plans in place to give Wales the option of voting on independence.”
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