Wales’ wings have been clipped for too long, First Minister tells conference

The party conference is the first since Plaid Cymru’s historic success at the Welsh Parliament election in May, bringing an end to Welsh Labour’s 27 years in power.

Addressing the audience at Llandudno’s Venue Cymru, where Mr ap Iorwerth proclaimed victory for his party nearly five months ago, he said: “That election wasn’t the end of a campaign, but the beginning of our work to give flight to a nation whose wings have been clipped for far too long.”

He added: “In May, the stars aligned in Wales, Scotland and the north of Ireland.

“The UK constitution now sits within a very different constellation.

“Three leaders of government, three countries with different journeys, but a shared principle binding us together.”

Mr ap Iorwerth has increasingly pushed for Welsh independence in recent weeks.

In September, the first ministers of the UK’s three devolved nations – SNP leader John Swinney, Mr ap Iorwerth and Sinn Féin vice president Michelle O’Neill – met in Cardiff to declare that “Westminster’s time is coming to an end” and reiterate their commitment to independence.

Mr ap Iorwerth told the conference: “We’ll seek practical ways of working together on issues that matter to the people that we serve, finding common ground where we can.

“But that shared principle between us is a rather simple one – to ensure that it is the people of our nations who decide their own future.”

Mr ap Iorwerth told the conference that he had written to Prime Minister Andy Burnham to set out the case for devolution of further powers such as policing and justice.

He said: “I do believe the new Prime Minister and I both want to have a constructive and genuinely positive relationship.

“I’ve looked him in the eye and said do not undermine Wales as a nation, do not bypass our Senedd.

“He looked me in the eyes and promised he would not – I will hold him to that, Wales will hold him to that.”

The First Minister added: “It remains my hope that the Prime Minister will listen in a shared spirit, and that he’ll see that the respect agenda between Welsh and UK Governments must work both ways.

“If he fails, Wales will know again that our best interests will never be served by Westminster, and that it matters little whether who lives in Number 10 Downing Street is an Evertonian or an Old Etonian.”