Wales should “learn” from the SNP’s successes in Scotland, according to the man who could well be the next first minister of Wales.Â
Plaid Cymru leader Rhun ap Iorwerth told Sky News: “I believe that we will not be able to fully release our potential until we’re an independent nation.”
He admitted “not everybody agrees” but believes there should be a discussion about how to “edge things forwards” on independence.
The party leader has ruled out a referendum in his first term but says support for Welsh independence is growing among young voters.
Mr ap Iorwerth, whose party is neck and neck with Reform UK and Labour in the polls to lead the Welsh Parliament next year, says his party takes “very, very seriously the positive impact” the SNP has had in Scotland.
It comes as a government minister admitted there are “major” questions about how fairly Wales is funded compared with Scotland.
Stephen Kinnock, the Labour MP for Aberafan Maesteg, told Sky News he and other Welsh MPs are looking for a reassessment of the funding formula.
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He said the Barnett formula, which decides the allocation of much of the funding from the treasury to devolved nations, works “much better” for Scotland and the industrial heritage and age demographics in Wales mean the nation has been historically underserved.
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Since Mr Kinnock spoke to Sky News, Wales was awarded £5bn in revenue and capital over three years, largely for rail infrastructure, in the spending review.
However, some Welsh Labour MPs fear the growing nationalist tide could mirror Scotland’s 2007 shift.
Lessons “have not been learned” from Scotland, Labour Member of the Welsh Parliament Lee Waters said.
Speaking to the Labour List website, he warned: “The control of the party machinery by London HQ, and the disdain of Westminster MPs towards their devolved counterparts were features now and then.”
Mr Waters sounded the alarm for Welsh Labour, adding: “Scottish Labour paid the price for it in 2007. The SNP seized on its chance to form a minority government and used it to build a generation of dominance. Plaid Cymru aim to do the same.”
Political correspondent
It’s a question that could propel Reform UK or Plaid Cymru to power in Wales this time next year – a seismic political shift in a nation dominated by Welsh Labour since devolution began.
The closure of the blast furnaces at Port Talbot, the end of virgin steelmaking in this country, drew comparisons with the government’s intervention at Scunthorpe in Lincolnshire. Why was an English steelmaking site saved and not a Welsh one?
The answer, as Wales MP and government minister Stephen Kinnock tells me, is not straightforward.
The owners of Scunthorpe were “actively sabotaging the blast furnaces”, and Labour were not in power in Westminster when decisions about Port Talbot were being made.
“You have to set the bar really high when you’re going to, as a government, go in and seize the assets of a private company,” he said.
But Port Talbot has become symbolic of something bigger, and it’s not just about steel.
Last month, a new railway line between Oxford and Cambridge was classed as an England and Wales project, meaning Wales does not get a share of funding, and earlier this year Wales’ first minister said the allocation of HS2 funding was “unfair” for Wales.
But Welsh Labour’s Eluned Morgan may not have done enough to distance herself from the national party.
Jac Larner from Wales’ Governance Centre at Cardiff University says her emphasis on the close relationship between Welsh and UK Labour echoes the message from Scottish Labour before their vote collapsed. It makes it “easier for voters to punish both” he said.
Launching his party’s so-called contract with voters in Merthyr Tydfil, Nigel Farage said Wales has been “let down”.
The Reform UK leaders’ progress in Wales has been notable, but as has that of a lesser known party leader, Plaid Cymru’s Rhun ap Iorwerth.
Can Wales’ nationalist party echo the SNP’s success in Scotland? Both parties are fishing in the same waters for disillusioned Labour voters. Both have a real shot at power in Wales.
Reform UK are also tapping into a mood of discontent in Wales.
Leader Nigel Farage has put re-industrialisation at the centre of his pitch and even pledged to reopen Port Talbot’s steel blast furnaces.
In last year’s general election, Reform UK came second in 13 of the 32 Welsh constituencies.
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Those close to Mr Farage suggest he sees the Welsh elections next year as an important stepping stone in his ambitions to get to 10 Downing Street.
Asked about Reform UK, the Plaid Cymru leader said he sees it as his “duty” to keep the party out of power in Wales.
Mr ap Iorwerth said Mr Farage’s party “have no particular interest in developing policy for Wales”.
