*Say Westminster’s Time Is Coming To An End
LEADERS of the main Scottish, Northern Irish and Welsh nationalist parties on Monday declared their right to choose whether to remain in the UK or not at a rare meeting in the Welsh capital Cardiff.
All three parties- the Scottish National Party (SNP), Plaid Cymru in Wales and the pro-Irish unity Sinn Fein- want to break away from the UK.
The meeting came just days after United States (US) President, Donald Trump, waded in, saying he would back a united Ireland, which Northern Ireland’s Michelle O’Neill said showed “the unity debate is very much alive.”
“Our nations have the right to self-determination. No Westminster government (the UK government) has the right to block democracy or undermine the principle that our people will decide their own future,” a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) stated.
SNP leader, John Swinney, Rhun ap Iorwerth, leader of Plaid Cymru in Wales, and Mary Lou McDonald and O’Neill, leader and deputy leader of pro-Irish unity, Sinn Fein, met in their capacity as party leaders, rather than as officials in their respective governments.
O’Neill is also Northern Ireland’s first minister, while Iorwerth and Swinney are first ministers of their respective nations.
Announcing the agreement, Swinney said the three parties were “absolutely united by that principle of self-determination,” adding that this “lies at the heart of the agreement that we have signed today.”
“For the first time ever, people across these islands have first ministers in Scotland, in Wales and in the North of Ireland who are all committed to independence from the United Kingdom,” the MoU said.
“The future of our nations belongs in the European Union,” it added.
The independence parties are the biggest in both the Scottish and Welsh parliaments for the first time since devolution measures began in 1999.
Sinn Fein has been the biggest party in Northern Ireland’s assembly since 2022.
The regional parliaments have key powers on health, education, housing, transport and environment matters, along with some tax gathering.
“For people watching across these islands, for people watching around the world, there could be no clearer sign that Westminster’s time is coming to an end,” the agreement said.
While the three parties are united in their desire to break away from the UK, they have varying positions on how and when this might take place.
The SNP wants a second independence referendum after an earlier ballot in 2014 saw Scotland narrowly vote to remain part of Britain.
Successive UK governments have ruled out an immediate rerun.
Sinn Fein, the former political wing of the paramilitary Irish Republican Army (IRA), wants to see a vote on Ireland being reunified with the UK territory, Northern Ireland.
Plaid Cymru seeks Welsh independence in the longer term, but Iorwerth has ruled out pressing for any referendum immediately.
The nationalist leaders signed an agreement on Monday, September 14, which said no Westminster government had the right to “block democracy.”
However, slight differences still remain. While Scotland’s John Swinney and Northern Ireland’s Michelle O’Neill called for referendums at a joint press conference, Wales’ Rhun ap Iorwerth declined to give a timetable for one in his country.
Labour and Reform accused Plaid of wanting to break up the UK.
Swinney and ap Iorwerth’s governments later backed a separate agreement to work together on pressing UK government on “fairness” in funding and powers.
For the first time since devolution began, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland all want to leave the UK.
The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) said: “For people watching across these islands – for people watching around the world – there could be no clearer sign that Westminster’s time is coming to an end.
“No Westminster government has the right to block democracy or undermine the principle that our people will decide their own future.
“We recognise that our parties have different constitutional positions and that each nation will determine its own future in its own way and in its own time.”
Plaid has ruled out an independence referendum before the next Senedd election in 2030.
At the press conference, ap Iorwerth said there was a “growing recognition that Westminster is not working” and “power genuinely needs to be brought closer to people and communities.
“Wales should have the power, the resources, the fair treatment we need as a nation to build the future our people deserve.”
SNP leader, Swinney, said Monday was a “pivotal moment in the constitutional journey of the United Kingdom.”
He said the elections in May for each nation created a situation with first ministers who believe “their countries should decide their own future,” adding: “That principle of self-determination is an inalienable right.”
Rhun ap Iorwerth said it is “up to the people of Wales to decide their own future,” describing Andy Burnham as the “last prime minister of the United Kingdom,” adding: “Because the people of Scotland, if given the choice of independence in a referendum, will take that choice.”
Sinn Féin’s McDonald described Monday’s meeting as “historic,” saying: “We have the right to referendum. We have the right to decide our future.
“We will not accept or tolerate any prime minister telling us that right is off the table.”
Northern Ireland’s First Minister, O’Neill, said all three nations were “distinctively different” and had their own priorities.
But she said the “common cause here is that Westminster does not and will never serve our people well.”
O’Neill serves in a power sharing executive in Northern Ireland, where the Democratic Unionist Party’s (DUP) Deputy First Minister, Emma Little-Pengelly, accused the Sinn Fein politician of attempting to “weaponise the role of first minister.”
In Northern Ireland, the first and deputy first minister have identical powers.
The leaders signed an agreement which said each nation will determine its own future “in its own way and in its own time.”
Asked by BBC Wales to clarify what the MoU meant for Wales, and whether it meant asking Westminster not to block a Welsh independence referendum, ap Iorwerth said it was “up to the people of Wales to decide its own future.”
Pressed further, he said: “You know I prefer to leave the question of a timetable in the hands of the people of Wales.
“The timescale will be set by the people of Wales when they are persuaded. My job is to persuade.”
The Welsh government does not have the power to hold such a referendum, but ap Iorwerth told the press conference he wanted to see that devolved.
Later on Monday, Swinney and ap Iorwerth signed a cooperation agreement between the Welsh and Scottish governments, saying it would “press the case for greater fairness for Wales and Scotland in areas such as the operation of the UK funding arrangements and powers over our constitutional future.”
It said the two governments would work together on a range of issues, including tackling child poverty and maximising the benefits of their relationships with the European Union (EU).
At a second press conference, Swinney declined to offer support for reform of the Barnett Formula, the system that determines how Wales is funded.
Welsh ministers have long called for the Barnett funding formula to be reformed, claiming it disadvantages Wales.
However, it is argued Scotland does well from the formula.
Before he became prime minister, Burnham made the case for change, but on his recent visit to Wales, he played down the prospect of reform.
Swinney said: “Financial arrangements across the United Kingdom vary and by constituent part of the United Kingdom. We all have to put forward the issues and the interests and the perspectives in each of our countries.”
Ap Iorwerth stated: “There are flexibilities that Scotland already have right now as a minimum to be handed to Wales, is something that is important to us.”
During Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday, Burnham appeared to indicate a second referendum could be held in Scotland if there was clear public support for a vote.
He compared the situation to the conditions for a border poll in Northern Ireland, explaining the Good Friday Agreement made clear a poll would be “considered by the Northern Ireland secretary when there is a clear consensus in the country, when public opinion has changed to the point where the call has to be considered.”
He added: “I would say that it is exactly the same situation in Scotland.”
The apparent softening in tone was welcomed by Swinney before Burnham clarified that another Scottish referendum remained “off limits.”
A referendum on Scottish independence in September 2014 saw the country vote to remain part of the UK by a margin of 55 per cent to 45 per cent.
Burnham will meet the devolved leaders next month
The dynamics in Wales are different from those in Scotland. Ap Iorwerth, who was appointed the first non-Labour first minister of Wales after May’s Senedd election, had ruled out pushing for a referendum on Welsh independence during his party’s first term in government.
His government intends to set up a national commission to “lay the foundations” for future plans for Welsh independence.
In the meantime, Welsh ministers are seeking extra powers to be transferred to Wales, including over policing and youth justice, which Burnham has said he is “open” to the idea of.
Ap Iorwerth said Burnham had “a lot to learn” about “how devolution to a nation is rather different to devolution to a region or a city of England.”
He added: “I want to have a positive relationship with him, I believe he wants to have a positive relationship with me.”
On its part, the UK government said: “The prime minister is committed to delivering change across all four nations of the United Kingdom and believes strongly in the union.”
Labour leader in Wales, Ken Skates, said: “Plaid have given people nothing since the election.
“They clearly want to use power to break up Britain, weaken Wales and spend their time obsessing over more powers for their politicians.”
Welsh Conservative Senedd leader, Darren Millar, noted: “Instead of obsessing about independence, the first minister should be focused on dealing with the crisis engulfing the Welsh NHS and the declining standards in Welsh schools.”
Dan Thomas, Reform UK’s Welsh leader, stated: “The first minister can’t get a grip of NHS waiting lists or our education system, but apparently has time to tell us what we all know; that he wants the break up the UK.”
