The Welsh first minister, Rhun ap Iorwerth, has formally called on the prime minister for a 'new deal' for Wales. Ap Iorwerth addressed party members at the Plaid Cymru annual conference in Llandudn on Friday, it was the first speech by the first minister at the party conference since taking office. Delegates greeted him with a standing ovation.
Ap Iorwerth said that his government had a 'clear mandate' for the transfer of more powers from Westminster. The letter to the prime minister was sent on Thursday, it had 2,000 words. In it, he requested a 'new deal to correct the historical injustice of our fiscal and constitutional arrangements and to place Wales on an equal footing with Scotland as a minimum'. The letter argued for the transfer of powers over police, justice, rail infrastructure and the crown estate.
According to his words, the new deal means that the Welsh first minister is calling on the UK government to treat Wales not as a region of England but as a nation in its own right. He added that the new deal should ensure powers as a means to grow the economy and improve outcomes for all. Ap Iorwerth recently told the Guardian that he was encouraged by the warm discussions with the prime minister and that they were a sharp contrast to his interactions with Keir Starmer.
On Friday, he said that he believed the prime minister and he wanted a constructive and positive relationship. He said that he had looked the prime minister in the eye and told him not to undermine Wales as a nation and not to bypass their Senedd. The prime minister, he said, looked him in the eye and promised that he would not, and ap Iorwerth said that he would hold him to his word.
Since becoming prime minister, the prime minister has highlighted his support for regional devolution of powers and resources in England, while his approach to the devolved administrations in Belfast, Cardiff and Edinburgh is still taking shape. The prime minister is expected to meet the three first ministers of the Celtic nations later in October. A spokesperson for the UK government said that the government was committed to building a stronger and fairer Wales in a stronger and fairer United Kingdom, and that the focus was on working with the Welsh government to empower local leaders and communities for good growth and jobs in every postcode.
Ap Iorwerth defeated the Labour Party and brought his party to its first victory in the elections to the Senedd in May. That victory ended 100 years of Labour dominance in Wales and blocked the momentum of the Reform Party. The Welsh Labour Party had been in power since the devolution of 1999, but in the last election they won only nine of 96 seats in the new Senedd. Support for the Labour Party has been declining for years due to frustration with the management of public services, which in Wales lag behind the other nations of the United Kingdom in many indicators.
The victory of ap Iorwerth placed the nationalist parties in government simultaneously in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland for the first time. Plaid Cymru has ruled out a referendum on independence during its first term. The first minister's call for a 'new deal' followed weeks after the summit of the leaders of Plaid Cymru, Sinn Féin and the Scottish National Party, at which the leaders confirmed the right of their countries to seek independence from the United Kingdom. Support for independence in Scotland has been between 45 and 50 percent since the 2014 referendum, while data suggests that support for independence is growing in Wales and Northern Ireland, where it is 32 percent and 36 percent, respectively.
