(Title Image: BBC Wales)
Plaid Cymru leader, Adam Price AM (Plaid, Carms E. & Dinefwr), told his party’s 2018 autumn conference in Ceredigion that independence has “to be put on the table” after Brexit, lest Wales be left to “the mercy of Westminster” in a manner that could threaten Wales’ survival as a nation.
The comments came just days before a Edinburgh University-Cardiff University study put support for Welsh independence at 19% (23% when don’t knows are excluded).
AMs recently rejected a Plaid Cymru motion calling for a second referendum on Brexit, instead backing a softer-worded motion supporting a second referendum on condition that a Brexit deal cannot be agreed and the next UK General Election produces an inconclusive result.
In terms of domestic policy, the new leader set out a vision for a National Care Service, a western rail link between Carmarthen and Bangor and a comprehensive childcare package.
Adam Price will also be nominated as First Minister by the party once a successor to Carwyn Jones is elected, calling back to a stalemate caused by a similar vote at the start of the Fifth Assembly.
Elsewhere, just prior to the conference it was announced the former leader of the Green Party in Wales, Grenville Ham, had joined Plaid. The Green Party in Wales recently rejected a proposal to fully separate themselves from the EnglandandWales party.
Members also agreed to twin 16 target constituencies to improve gender balance.
Also, former SNP MP, Angus Robertson, was tasked with overseeing a root-and-branch review of the party’s operations, while a policy motion from the party’s youth wing, Plaid Ifanc – supporting the decriminalisation of possessing illegal drugs – was backed by members.