Middle of nowhere.

It is often claimed that all the mainstream political parties are the same, and that rather than a contest of ideologies, politics has become a contest for the middle ground. In a country largely free of discomfort and where horrendous social injustice is increasingly confined to the inaudible few, it is no surprise that people want the status quo, and a steady 'more-of-the-same' line from their politicians.

This is something of a obstacle for Welsh nationalism. As a cause, it tends to thrive off injustice and outrage, and God only knows there has been enough of that throughout Welsh history. However, in recent times, the causes that could once again fuel the nationalist fire and give cause to alter the political status quo, in Wales at least, have not come to the public fore. Issues such as the ability of Westminster to out-muscle any Welsh dissent in the governance of Wales (don't think for a minute that over-glazed hole-in-the-ground down in the Bay would make a blind bit of difference should something of that nature occur), the purging of rural areas of their indigenous inhabitants (Edward I didn't need an army. A free and unregulated housing market would have done the trick at a fraction of the cost to the royal purse) and the hopeless over reliance of the Welsh rural economy on a seasonal, menial and poorly-paid luxury industry like tourism (luxury in the sense that it will be the first to feel the pinch should the economy splutter a little) are just a few examples.

The trouble is that these issues are perceived as either rocking the boat (tut tut) or extremely boring (yawn). Not because they necessarily are boat-rocking or boring, but because they don't fit in with the cosy established agenda of those in charge, which has had a decade to gel (or fester, depending on your point of view). None of the above issues are esspecially controversial. They simply require recognition and the will to do something useful. Sticking one's fingers in one's ears and humming loudly will not make the problem go away. From Westminster these may seem like small problems, but from Wales they are somewhat larger, and simply fiddling about on the centre ground in an ineffectul sort of way and contriving to hopelessly bog things down in a left/right debate when somebody tries to do something constructive is not useful.