The leaders of the SNP, Plaid Cymru and Sinn Fein are meeting in Cardiff today to strengthen cooperation between their parties and discuss the prospect of constitutional change across the UK and Ireland.
John Swinney, Rhun ap Iorwerth, Mary Lou McDonald and Michelle O’Neill will hold talks on Monday 14 September covering the economy, energy and European and international cooperation.
The meeting brings together the leaders of parties governing in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland as they look for areas where closer political cooperation could serve their respective interests.
Constitutional change will also be firmly on the agenda, with the parties calling on the UK Government to prepare and plan for potential changes in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Swinney arrives in Cardiff days after Prime Minister Andy Burnham said a referendum should take place when there is majority support for independence in Scotland, an intervention which has quickly become central to the SNP’s renewed constitutional argument.
The First Minister said:
“I welcome the opportunity to meet with colleagues in Plaid Cymru and Sinn Féin in Cardiff.
“We are at a pivotal moment of constitutional change, and our parties share the common belief that our interests will never be served by Westminster, and that the people of our respective nations must have a meaningful say over their future.
“This discussion comes the week after the Prime Minister accepted that a referendum should take place when there is majority support for independence in Scotland.
“That acknowledgment that the people of Scotland can and should determine their own constitutional future is long overdue.
“Today, our parties will come together and commit to working in partnership on areas such as social justice, energy, and the right to national self-determination.”
Plaid Cymru leader Rhun ap Iorwerth said the meeting came at an important moment following May’s election and the formation of a Plaid Cymru led Welsh Government.
He said:
“Our parties have much to gain from working together, as partners and as equals, where we share common interests and where cooperation can improve the lives of the people we represent.”
Sinn Féin President Mary Lou McDonald stressed that Ireland, Scotland and Wales have different constitutional circumstances while arguing that each shares the democratic principle of allowing nations to determine their own future.
She said:
“In Ireland, the position is clear.
“The Good Friday Agreement provides a peaceful and democratic pathway to reunification and guarantees the right of the people of this island to determine our constitutional future.”
Northern Ireland First Minister Michelle O’Neill said the parties would seek common ground while preparing for the possibility of constitutional change.
She said:
“Strengthening the relationships between the three parties and finding common ground will help us grow and create better opportunities for the workers, families and communities we represent.”
Today’s Cardiff meeting moves that cooperation beyond individual statements of support and towards a more organised relationship between three parties seeking fundamental changes to the constitutional future of the nations they represent.
