Plaid and SNP team up to launch attack on Farage’s ‘hateful politics’

Emily Price

Plaid Cymru and the Scottish National Party have launched an attack on Nigel Farage’s “hateful, extreme politics” following the announcement of a new alliance between the two parties.

Plaid leader Rhun ap Iorwerth and Scotland’s First Minister John Swinney met in Edinburgh on Thursday (October 30) to discuss joining forces.

The pair hope that by standing together, the two nationalist parties can ensure that Westminster respects the wishes of both Wales and Scotland.

Ap Iorwerth and Swinney believe that an SNP win in Scotland and a Plaid Cymru win in Wales will be an outcome the UK Government cannot ignore, and will demonstrate an alternative to right-wing party Reform UK.

Recent polling has projected that May’s Senedd election will be a two horse race between Plaid Cymru and Reform UK.

The next Scottish Parliament election will also take place in May next year.

Analysis published last week shows that the SNP would secure a majority if the Holyrood elections were held now.

Today’s meeting at Bute House saw the two leaders discuss shared areas of interest including the cost of living crisis, the forthcoming UK Government Autumn Budget and the relationship between Scotland and Wales.

Ap Iorwerth and Swinney also discussed the SNP’s success in bringing down child poverty through its Scottish Child Payment policy.

The monthly payment worth £27.15 a week is unique to Scotland and over 300,000 children are said to be benefiting from it.

Pilot

A 2025 report from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation revealed that child poverty in Wales is on track to hit its highest level in 30 years.

Plaid Cymru has pledged to bring in child payment pilot similar to the SNP’s if the party comes to power in Wales next year.

The centre-left Scottish and Welsh pro-indenpendence parties have teamed up before.

Alliances

In 2001, Plaid and the SNP pooled their resources to create a “Celtic alliance” in Westminster making them the largest opposition party after the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats.

Speaking after the meeting, First Minister John Swinney said that Farage was relying on Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s weakeness to allow him to “walk into power” in Westminster.

Recent polling has revealed that support for Labour in Westminster has hit an all time low – while it’s estimated that Reform UK could win 311 seats if a general election were held today.

Swinney said: “Westminster is not working for Scotland or Wales. Keir Starmer’s government has been an unmitigated disaster for both our nations.

“After only year and a half in office Keir Starmer’s government is already hanging by a thread.

“Next year we have the opportunity to cut that thread – and bring an end to Starmer’s disastrous time as Prime Minister.

“And by electing strong, centre-left SNP and Plaid Governments, we will also be sending a clear message that the hateful, extreme politics of Nigel Farage will never be allowed to win in our nations.

“Farage is banking on the weakness of Keir Starmer and Labour and expecting to walk into power off the back of it – but next year we can be clear that that Scotland and Wales will have no part in it.

“But ultimately, whether Farage, Starmer or whoever replaces him in Downing Street, Westminster has nothing positive to offer Scotland.

“The whole Westminster system is broken.  Next year we can choose hope over Westminster despair with the fresh start of independence.”

Win

The meeting comes following Plaid’s historic win in the Caerphilly by-election last week.

Polling had predicted that Reform candidate Llŷr Powell would win the contest – but he was beaten by Plaid’s Lindsay Whittle who gained 47% of the vote.

It was the first time Labour had failed to win the Senedd seat since the establishment of Wales’ Parliament in 1999.

Rhun ap Iorwerth said: “Electing a Plaid Cymru government in Wales and an SNP government in Scotland would result in a powerful bloc – one that would serve as a wake-up call for the UK Labour Government that they would ignore at their peril.

“As the by-election victory in Caerffili demonstrated, there is a positive and principled alternative to Labour and Reform and a growing movement of people who want to choose a hopeful future over decline and division.

“The SNP government in Scotland has already led the way in demanding a better deal for their nation.

“Meanwhile, after 26 years of Labour rule, Wales still has no control over justice, policing, or its own natural resources due to the Labour Welsh Government’s unwillingness to stand up to Westminster and Labour’s Welsh MPs refusal to countenance further devolution.

“Next May, Wales can put an end to that. By electing a Plaid Cymru government able to forge a strong relationship with an SNP Scottish Government, we can make our nations’ voices heard in Westminster and demand that Wales gets parity of funding and powers with Scotland as the first step towards taking our future into our own hands.”

‘Regressive’

Reform UK was invited to reply to Plaid and the SNP’s comments about Nigel Farage but the party did not respond.

Welsh Conservative Leader Darren Millar branded news of a pact between Plaid Cymru and the SNP as a “regressive alliance”.

He said: “There’s nothing progressing about Plaid and the SNP’s plans to tear apart the United Kingdom.

“These political parties pose a danger to our economic security that would cost every single family in Wales thousands of pounds each and every year, and put pensions, jobs and livelihoods at risk.

“While they offer a regressive alliance that will see further decline in our economy and public services, only the Welsh Conservatives have a credible plan to fix Wales, and we are the only party truly committed to ensuring a strong Wales in a strong United Kingdom.

“Wales needs a Government that is focused on fixing the everyday problems people face, not one that’s obsessed by constitutional naval gazing.”