Wales ‘has pathway to independence’

Wales will be offered an independence referendum within five years if the Welsh nationalist party, Plaid Cymru, commands a majority at next May’s Welsh Parliament elections, the party’s leader Adam Price has said.

Devolution of powers from London to Cardiff was under attack from Boris Johnson’s Westminster government, Mr Price said, and support for an independent Wales was now at its highest in history.

The party leader said the need to hold a referendum had been “accelerated” due to the likelihood that Scotland will become an independent nation by 2025, and the fact that Brexit had made a united Ireland possible.

Mr Price said that if he is able to command a majority in the Senedd after next May, the country will be offered one binary choice referendum on Welsh independence by 2026, within the first term.

Unveiling his plans at a press conference on Friday, Mr Price said: “Wales is in real danger of being left behind as part of a rump United Kingdom, in a new England-and-Wales formation – which would be the ultimate worst of all worlds.

“It is for these reasons that I therefore pledge today that subject to party approval, a Plaid Cymru government, able to command a majority in the Senedd, will offer a referendum on independence for Wales in its first term.”

In August, a poll revealed 32 per cent of voters in Wales supported independence if there was a referendum the next day, the highest ever level of support recorded and a massive increase in support from just a few years ago. Support for holding a referendum is also at its highest ever.

Mr Price said he is keen to “cement and enhance” the relationship between the Celtic nations, including Ireland and Scotland, and as First Minister of Wales, has promised a “Celtic Summit” in summer 2021 where common aims and purpose can be mapped out “as independence and mutual co-operation becomes the new normal.”

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