Plaid Cymru Leader calls on Starmer to ‘pledge greater powers to Wales’

Plaid Cymru Acting Leader Llyr Gruffydd writes to UK Labour Leader Sir Keir Starmer on eve of indy Wales march

Plaid Cymru Acting Leader Llyr Gruffydd has reached out to UK Labour Leader Sir Keir Starmer to call on him to pledge his support for “greater powers” to Wales.

In a letter to the UK Labour Leader – sent on the eve of the march for Welsh independence in Swansea, Mr Gruffydd said the Labour party had “historically failed” to keep pace with the growing desire for “more powers” for Wales.

The Acting Leader of Plaid Cymru called on Starmer to “join Plaid Cymru” to back greater powers over the “economy, broadcasting, energy, welfare, justice, and transport” to the Senedd to ensure Wales had the tools to “strengthen its economy and protect its public services”.

Plaid Cymru Acting Leader Llyr Gruffydd MS said,

“As the debate surrounding Wales’s constitutional future gathers pace, thousands of people will meet in Swansea to show their support for self-determination, many of them members of your party.

“Despite more powers being the settled will of the Welsh electorate, and independence having moved  from the margins to the mainstream, it is a matter of deep frustration that the UK Labour Party has historically failed to keep pace with this growing desire for the Senedd to have powers over key areas of responsibility.

“These wishes are clearly being heard by some of your Labour colleagues in Wales who have recently spoken out in support of HS2 Barnett consequentials, the devolution of justice, and the devolution of the Crown Estate.

“Over the coming months, all parties will be developing their programme for government ahead of the Westminster Election next year.

“My plea to you is to remember Wales.

“By joining Plaid Cymru in pledging to grant the Welsh Parliament greater powers over the economy, broadcasting, energy, welfare, justice, and transport, you would be ensuring that our nation has the tools it needs to strengthen its economy and protect its public services.

“It is my firm belief that saying nothing now and inaction later opens the door to those who wish to  entrench Wales’s marginal status within the Westminster system.”