Wales will be offered an independence referendum within five years if Plaid Cymru commands a majority at next May’s Welsh Parliament elections, the party’s leader Adam Price has said.
Mr Price said support for an independent Wales was now at its “highest” in history while devolution was under attack from Boris Johnson’s Westminster Government.
The party leader also said the need to hold a referendum had been “accelerated” due to his belief that Scotland will become an independent nation by 2025 and that Brexit had made a united Ireland possible.
Mr Price has said that if he is able to command a majority of MSs in the Senedd after next May, the country will be offered one binary choice referendum on Welsh independence by 2026, within the first term of a Plaid government.
Unveiling his plans at a press conference earlier today, Mr Price said: “Devolution itself – that most basic democratic principle that decisions affecting Wales should be made in Wales – is under attack from Boris Johnson’s Conservatives.
“Meanwhile, the demand for another independence referendum in Scotland is becoming unstoppable and by 2025 Scotland could well be an independent country. And Brexit has also given further impetus to the calls for a united Ireland.
“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 June, a poll revealed 25 per cent of voters in Wales supported independence if there was a referendum the next day, the highest ever level of support recorded.
But the same poll also found 25 per cent of people asked would choose to abolish the Welsh Parliament if they were given a referendum on doing so.
At the SNP’s 86th Annual National Conference last month, Mr Price promised that his “first official phone call as the first pro-independence First Minister of Wales next May to you First Minister”, Nicola Sturgeon, as he pledged to bring two nations together in a Celtic Summit.
Mr Price said he is keen to “cement and enhance” the relationship between the two nations, 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.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel