Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland leaders: "The time of Westminster is coming to an end"

Leaders of Plaid Cymru, Sinn Féin and the Scottish National Party (SNP) said their meeting marked a turning point for the United Kingdom, declaring that "The time of Westminster is coming to an end" and urging the British government to be ready for constitutional change.

The three nationalist figures — John Swinney (SNP), Michelle O'Neill (Sinn Féin) and Rhun ap Iorwerth (Plaid Cymru) — signed a joint agreement stating that no Westminster government has the right to "block democracy." Mary Lou McDonald, president of Sinn Féin, was also present at the event.

Demands and the question of referendums

At a joint press conference the Scottish deputy first minister John Swinney and Northern Ireland's first minister Michelle O'Neill publicly called for referendums on independence for their jurisdictions. Rhun ap Iorwerth, the Plaid Cymru leader, declined to provide a timetable for a Welsh referendum.

The leaders framed their initiative as the exercise of a national right to self-determination and pressed the UK government to "prepare, to plan and to facilitate constitutional change." They met on Monday as representatives of their parties to sign the pledge.

Observers noted that this is the first time since the devolution settlements began that the leaders of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have openly declared the intention that their nations should leave the United Kingdom, and that they coordinated a public push for referendums and constitutional talks.

Photo: press material from the event