A memorandum of understanding demanding referendums on the constitutional future of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland is expected to be signed in Cardiff on Monday, as the leaders of all three devolved nations coordinate their case for leaving the United Kingdom.
The gathering is being billed as the first of its kind since each nation came to be led by a pro-independence party.
Attending will be Scotland’s First Minister John Swinney, Plaid Cymru leader Rhun ap Iorwerth and Sinn Féin vice-president Michelle O’Neill. The three are meeting as party leaders rather than as heads of government, a deliberate choice that lets them speak more freely about independence than their official roles typically allow. Ap Iorwerth’s election as Welsh First Minister in May marked the first time all three devolved first ministers led governments formed by parties backing exit from the union.
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The Telegraph reported the plan for the memorandum and the joint call for referendums, a step that would sharply escalate the pressure being applied to Westminster. The summit is separate from a UK-wide National Economic Council meeting that Swinney is chairing in Wales during the same visit.
Swinney argued that “every nation across these islands is standing at a moment of incredible constitutional opportunity,” and warned that Prime Minister Andy Burnham “must now be facing up to the idea that he will go down in history as the final Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.”
Burnham has shown no sign of shifting, telling Swinney in an exchange of letters that “independence and a referendum are off limits as it would take our focus away from growing the economy and helping families with the cost of living.”
A Survation poll for YesCymru put support for Welsh independence at 32% among likely voters against 68% opposed, though backing reached 59% among those aged 18 to 24 and just 15% among the over-65s.
