The Senedd has dissolved and we are now in full-on election campaign mode. The parties are now making the promises they probably won’t keep, the strawmen are being put up and the people who have been in charge are telling us how great everything is.

As Plaid Cymru lead in the polls, it is inevitable that independence will be discussed. Plaid’s stance is that independence is not an immediate priority for them in this Senedd term.

I am a nationalist and a strong supporter of independence, but I can at least see the logic here. There’s no point setting sail on a ship that’s been sat around rotting for 27 years, after all.

Still, Plaid’s clarity on this issue isn’t enough for the hard unionist parties.

Since the Senedd dissolved, I have seen social media posts or received literature from no fewer than four parties, accusing Plaid Cymru either an ‘obsession’ with independence, or some sort of secret, nefarious plan that they are confident exists, but can’t explain exactly what it is.

There are plenty of things that Plaid can be reasonably criticised for, such as Senedd expansion, propping Labour up in the Senedd, 20mph speed limits, and even the record of the councils they control. I don’t agree with all of those, but I think they’re fair criticisms.

So why do the unionist parties focus on the non-existent independence plan?

If I had to guess, I’d say because it’s easy to fearmonger about.

It’s easy to tell people it’ll cost them however many thousands of pounds a year (based on an analysis of the finances of the status quo), that there would be a hard border with England or that what little investment Wales gets now would evaporate overnight. Some are even comparing Plaid to Reform UK, calling both divisive, as if Brexit wasn’t!

But ultimately, it’s one big distraction.

What people actually care about is a functioning health service, world-class education, and an effective set of local councils. In February, 16,000 people waited 8 hours or more in emergency departments. We still had over 713,000 NHS pathways on waiting lists as of January, with 115,700 having been waiting over a year (5,200 over two years).

What this election should really be about is public services, especially Labour’s record running them.

As much as I wish that we could have an independence referendum, I am realistic. It would not be winnable now, and it likely wouldn’t be winnable in four years. Plaid Cymru know this. Everyone knows this.

If the unionist parties stuck to truth and how they are going to address the real problems facing Wales, there’s a chance they wouldn’t all be dropping in the polls to the benefit of Plaid Cymru and the Greens.

Maybe the Westminster overlords of the unionist parties want everyone to think Plaid Cymru are obsessed with independence to distract from their own records? Aside from Labour’s poor running of Wales, it’s important to remember that the Conservatives’ hands aren’t clean either. 14 years of austerity, chaos and sleaze is why support for independence is at around 30 per cent rather than 3 per cent. And let’s not mention the coalition of 2010-2015!

It is Tory rule that woke a lot of people up to the failure of the UK system to serve Welsh interests for centuries.

The start of the Senedd campaign has been uninspiring and poor from all the main parties.

Whoever forms the next Welsh Government needs to be in touch with people’s priorities, focused on change over distraction, and build a Wales that can thrive in today’s world.

Now, none of the big parties seem focused on anything of the sort. Just fearmongering, denial and vague, undeliverable promises. But what’s new?