Interim report concludes Independence for Wales is a “viable” future constitutional option for Wales

Independence for Wales is a “viable” future constitutional option for Wales, the landmark Independent Commission on the Constitutional Future of Wales’s interim report has concluded.

The Commission, chaired by former Archbishop of Wales Rowan Williams, and Professor Laura McAllister, of Cardiff University’s Wales Governance Centre, was established by the Co-operation Agreement between Plaid Cymru and the Welsh Government in November 2021 to consider and develop options for fundamental constitutional reform of the United Kingdom alongside progressive principal options to strengthen Welsh democracy.

Its interim report, published today (Wednesday 7th December 2022), concluded that “the status quo” or “unwinding devolution” were neither “reliable” nor “sustainable” basis for the governance of Wales in the future.

The report has been welcomed by Plaid Cymru Leader Adam Price MS who said its significance as the first ever Welsh government report to acknowledge independence as a “viable” way forward for the future of Wales could not be “overstated”.

The Plaid Cymru Leader added that the report reaffirmed Plaid Cymru’s argument that the constitutional “status quo” wasn’t working for Wales and reiterated his party’s belief that independence was the best way to deliver the “greener, and stronger economic future and fairness that the communities of Wales urgently need and deserve”.

Plaid Cymru will be publishing its submission to the Commission in full today entitled “The Road to Independence” (published Y Lolfa) at the Temple of Peace, Cardiff.

Mr Price said the evidence outlined a “major development in Plaid Cymru’s thinking on independence” and includes proposals for a sovereign Senedd as an interim step towards independence, in the form of a Free Association Wales.

Plaid Cymru Leader Adam Price MS said,

“This landmark report is the first government report to acknowledge that independence for Wales is both a credible and viable way forward for the constitutional future of Wales.

“The significance of this cannot be overstated.

“Not only does it reaffirm Plaid Cymru’s argument that the status quo simply isn’t working for Wales but makes clear that we are trapped within a UK economy that is overwhelmingly shaped in the interests of the South-East of England and the City of London and that this broken UK economic model does not deliver prosperity to Wales and offers no prospect of doing so.

“Present devolution arrangements are unsustainable and cannot last. Federalism is dead-end. Plaid Cymru believes that only independence can deliver the greener, and stronger economic future and fairness that the communities of Wales urgently need and deserve.

“That is why we are today publishing our evidence to the commission in full – which outlines a major development in Plaid Cymru’s thinking on independence and makes proposals for a sovereign Senedd as an interim step towards independence, in the form of a Free Association Wales.

“We want to achieve independence as soon as we can. However, we acknowledge that independence will not happen overnight. As with our experience of winning the referenda to establish and strengthen our Senedd, we will build the road to independence with the political resources to hand, be they building-blocks, stepping-stones or bridges.”

“We thank the Commission for their work so far and look forward to engaging with them further over the coming months, as we continue to converse with the people of Wales on creating a better future for our communities.

“After all, creating an independent Wales is not the role of one party, but the work of an entire nation, all its people and perspectives.