First Ministers to sign joint independence declaration in Cardiff
Craig Paton and Jonathan McCambridge, Press Association
The leaders of Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland’s governing parties are set to sign a joint declaration calling for their nations to be given the right to hold independence referendums.
Plaid Cymru leader Rhun ap Iorwerth, SNP leader John Swinney and Sinn Féin vice president Michelle O’Neill are expected to sign a memorandum of understanding when they meet in Cardiff on Monday.
The agreement will seek to increase pressure on the UK Government to recognise the right of people in their respective nations to determine their constitutional futures.
The trio will meet in their capacities as party leaders rather than as First Ministers, with the summit also expected to cover areas where their governments can work together.
Successive UK governments have opposed holding further referendums on leaving the UK since Scotland voted against independence in 2014.
The issue was brought back into focus last week when Prime Minister Andy Burnham told the Commons another Scottish independence referendum could be held if there was a “clear consensus” for one north of the border.
However, Downing Street subsequently insisted there had been no change in policy, while a letter from Mr Burnham to Mr Swinney said another referendum remained “off limits”.
Speaking ahead of Monday’s meeting, Mr ap Iorwerth said the three leaders would discuss both the issues on which they agreed and those on which they differed.
He told the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg: “We’re talking about how we can work together, let’s talk about what we have in common and what we don’t.”
He added: “There’s also something that ties us together, isn’t there?
“That pursuit of a different attitude from UK Government.
“It could be around the constitutional question, it could, more acutely, be around fair funding, making sure resource is shared in a way that is equitable, that feels fair, that we have the powers to build the future for the people that we represent.”
Mr ap Iorwerth said the three could work together despite differences between their respective parties and governments.
He said: “We can work together as First Ministers across these islands, I think, in a positive way for the people we represent, whilst also absolutely reflecting on the fact that we have differences between us.”
A Sinn Féin source said the Cardiff summit would consider “where the parties can work together to make a difference to people’s lives; and how each of our nations has the right to shape its own future through democratic means, guided by the will of its people”.
The source added: “In Ireland, the constitutional future belongs to the people of this island.
“The Good Friday Agreement gives us the democratic means to decide it, and now is the time to prepare seriously for that choice.
“Irish unity is not a distant aspiration.
“The work of building the new Ireland must begin now.”
The meeting comes as Scotland’s Education Secretary Mairi McAllan insisted another independence referendum remained an option.
Speaking on the BBC’s Sunday Show, she said: “An independence referendum is not off the table.
“We devote time to it because it is the transformational change that allows Scotland to stand on its own two feet in the world and to fulsomely pursue the better that we want.”
‘Unsustainable’
Ms McAllan said the “status quo in the UK is unsustainable”, pointing to the fact that the governments in Wales and Northern Ireland are also now led by politicians whose parties support leaving the UK.
She added: “The only people who, until last week anyway, didn’t appear to understand that were the UK Government.
“But the Prime Minister stood at the despatch box in the House of Commons last week and was clear that Scotland must have a route to choose our own future, so we just want that agreed now in a legal format so that we can take forward our mandate in Scotland.”
A UK Government Spokesperson said: “The Prime Minister is committed to delivering change across all four nations of the United Kingdom and believes strongly in the Union.
“The United Kingdom is at its best when people come together around our shared values and problem-solving rather than division. The UK Government is focused on addressing the issues that matter most to families, including easing pressures on household finances and delivering greater economic security, rather than engaging in constitutional debates or further referendums.
“The Prime Minister’s approach to working with the First and deputy First Ministers in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland is based on partnership and collaboration, focused on delivering growth and good jobs for people across all parts of our country.”
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That mandate must apply to Wales and Ireland I, being a 77 yr old Welshman from birth,and an hereditry Irish Citizen and passport holder.
Good decision.
Interesting how many unionist politicians are losing their minds over this. Including Farage who isn’t even Welsh, Scottish or Irish yet feels he has a god given right to an opinion.
This summit does not that the UK is going to break up, it means that the devolved nations will have the right to leave the UK subject to a referendum. This is already the case for Northern Ireland as per the Good Friday Agreement.
England will be delighted because it will become independant if all three vote to leave.
More likely that ‘England’s delight would be in continuing to be imperial that becoming independent.
About Time!!!!! Help them along Michelle. Plaid have two speeds, one is Slow, the other Dead Slow!. The Scots blew it when they accepted the Referendum Scam. Hoping you can help us out.
The westminster politicians are that out of touch, they’re using terms like “union” and “shared values”.
Our values are completely different, where racism and intolerance is a part of English culture, it’s not for Scotland, Ireland or Cymru, our cultures just don’t have their victi. Mindset.
It’s only a “union” to those milking billions from it. Referring to this abomination as a Union is like locking a woman and her children in a basement and calling it a family.
The misinformation from politicians needs to stop, the theft from Cymru needs to stop and it’s time to move forward.
The occupying government won’t stop any of the above.
British success is based on invasion, theft and pillaging. Theyre just a bit rubbish at it now, so want to milk the hostages they already have.
As much as I’d love to see things move into this century, our kidnappers have a good stranglehold and definitely won’t play fair or lawful when the 3 occupied countries want back their rightful positions.