A rare gathering in the Welsh capital brought together the heads of Britain's three main independence movements this week.
What made Monday notable wasn't just the agreement's content but its timing: this is reportedly the first occasion where Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have all simultaneously had first ministers openly aligned with breaking away from the UK.
Scottish Nationalist Party leader John Swinney, Welsh's Plaid Cymru's Rhun ap Iorwerth and Mary Lou McDonald, president of Irish Republicans Sinn Fein, and Michelle O'Neill, vice president of Irish Republicans, signed a memorandum arguing that Westminster has no standing to interfere with how their nations choose to govern themselves, according to reports.
The document put it bluntly, insisting that London's parliament "has no right to block democracy or undermine the principle that our people will decide their own future".
The memorandum also stakes out a clear European ambition, with the three parties positioning EU membership as part of each nation's long-term future. The document frames the gathering itself as a message, to observers at home and abroad that Westminster's authority is on borrowed time.
Same Goal, Different Roads
While all three parties share the broader ambition of separating from the United Kingdom, they don't agree on the timeline or method for getting there.
The SNP has long pushed for a straightforward independence referendum in Scotland, Plaid Cymru has built its case gradually around Welsh self-governance, and Sinn Féin's push centers on eventual reunification with the Republic of Ireland rather than standalone independence, reflecting Northern Ireland's more complicated constitutional history.
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Party Leaders, Not Government Officials
It's worth noting the leaders convened in their capacity as heads of their respective parties, not as sitting government officials, which allowed them to make a joint political statement without directly binding their governments to it.
Momentum, But Not Yet Coordination On Action
The three parties describe a shared sense that constitutional change is gathering pace and increasingly likely. Rather than laying out a joint campaign strategy or shared timeline, though, the memorandum's concrete commitment is narrower — closer cooperation between the parties and a search for practical areas where teaming up could yield real results, leaving the harder strategic questions for later.
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