The leaders of Sinn Féin, the Scottish National Party and Wales’s Plaid Cymru have signed a joint agreement pledging to work together to effectively bring an end to the United Kingdom by securing independence for their countries.
The SNP’s John Swinney, Plaid Cymru’s Rhun ap Iorwerth and Sinn Fein’s Michelle O’Neill and Mary Lou McDonald signed the memorandum of understanding (MoU) during a meeting in Cardiff this morning.
The first ministers of the UK’s three devolved nations gathered in their capacities as party leaders to call on the British government to “prepare for, plan and facilitate constitutional change in each jurisdiction”.
“Scotland, Wales and Ireland have distinct histories, identities and political traditions,” the document opens, continuing, “each of our nations has the right to determine its own future, through democratic means and in accordance with the wishes of its people”.
The leaders noted that for the first time, each country has a first minister committed to separating from the UK, a fact they described as a clear indication that “Westminster’s time is coming to an end”.
The MoU contained the stated intention to enhance cooperation between the three parties in ways that further the causes of national independence, such as building stronger economies, expanding energy resources and rebuilding European relationships.
Acknowledging the different constitutional positions of each party and each country, the agreement nevertheless stated that the signatories are united in their belief in self-determination, adding that “each nation will determine its own future in its own way and in its own time”.
“The future should be one in which our nations can cooperate confidently, speak for themselves and build relationships with one another and with the wider world based on equality, respect and mutual benefit,” it concluded.
The agreement has provoked pushback in each of the three countries, including in the UK, where Prime Minister Andy Burnham has repeatedly reiterated that referendums are “off the table” at present.
Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland Emma Little-Pengelly said in response to O’Neill’s participation in the summit that she would “never allow the position of First Minister to be used, misused or to be weaponised in a way to push for the abolition of Northern Ireland”.
“At a time when people are focused on waiting lists, challenges within health, education and our roads – where is Michelle O’Neill? Pursuing narrow political priorities over what matters to most people,” Pengelly wrote in a post on social media platform X.