Devolved First Ministers to sign independence declaration

The First Ministers of the UK’s devolved nations will sign a landmark agreement on Monday aimed at putting pressure on Downing Street to hold referendums on independence.

SNP leader John Swinney, Plaid Cymru leader Rhun ap Iorwerth and Sinn Féin vice president Michelle O’Neill will meet in Cardiff on Monday, where they are expected to sign a memorandum of understanding pushing for referendums in their respective countries, the Press Association understands.

The trio will meet in their capacity as party leaders, rather than as officials in their respective governments.

Successive UK governments have been consistently against the holding of referendums on separation since the 2014 vote in Scotland and hopes earlier this week of a softening position were dashed by Downing Street.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham told the Commons another vote in Scotland could be held if there was a “clear consensus” north of the border for it, but a letter sent to Swinney later clarified a referendum remained “off limits”.

A Sinn Féin source told the Press Association the Cardiff summit will be about “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 is due to take place in Cardiff on Monday.

Speaking on the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg, Welsh First Minister ap Iorweth said: “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.”

He continued: “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.”

The meeting also comes after Scotland’s Education Secretary said another referendum was “not off the table”.

Speaking on the BBC’s Sunday Show, Scottish Education Secretary Mairi McAllan 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.”

The “status quo in the UK is unsustainable”, McAllan added, pointing to the First Ministers of both Northern Ireland and Wales being in support of leaving the UK.

“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.”