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Plaid Cymru 'cannot out-Corbyn Corbyn', says Simon Thomas Plaid Cymru needs to earn trust of voters, Leanne Wood says
(about 3 hours later)
Plaid Cymru cannot "out-Corbyn" Corbyn, a senior assembly member has told his party's conference. Leanne Wood has said she needs to earn the trust of non-Plaid Cymru voters as she vowed to stay on as leader.
Simon Thomas's reference to the Labour leader will be seen as a call for Plaid, led by left-winger Leanne Wood, to move towards the centre ground. She told Plaid's conference in Caernarfon the party could back another Brexit referendum if there was no deal with other EU states by March 2019.
He said the end of Plaid's co-operation agreement with Labour was a chance for a "new start" for the party. Ms Wood also announced proposals to re-train manual workers whose jobs are threatened by automation.
Earlier, AM Rhun ap Iorwerth said Plaid had felt "powerless" during the general election campaign. Plaid Cymru won one extra seat in June's general election but saw its share of the vote drop.
Mr Thomas told the conference in Caernarfon on Friday that Plaid was right to strike a deal with Labour after the 2016 Welsh Assembly election. Ms Wood, leader since 2012, said: "To the citizens of Wales, I want to say that I accept that we need to earn your trust.
The deal - known as the "compact" - had brought stability to the Welsh Government, he said. "You have just voted in the most dramatic election for decades. But Plaid Cymru and I are ready to serve your interests, and has the ideas and ambition to show a new way for Wales."
But now that the agreement had ceased, the Mid and West Wales AM said: "This can be a new start for Plaid Cymru. Ms Wood told conference that, if Plaid was in government, it would issue a "rail bond" to finance electrification of the main railway line from London to Swansea "and beyond".
"Where do we go? There's no point out-Corbyning Corbyn. "Rather than wring our hands and complain about the Tories, the Party of Wales will respond with a solution," she said.
"Our future is making Wales' future." Electrification west of Cardiff has been cancelled by the UK government.
He called for Plaid Cymru to "stand firm on solid nationalist ground". Earlier Plaid AM Simon Thomas told delegates it was the wrong approach to try to "out-Corbyn Corbyn" by positioning itself to the left of Labour, while fellow AM Rhun ap Iorwerth suggested the party was "powerless and under siege" during the general election campaign.
In his speech earlier, Mr ap Iorwerth told party delegates that the snap general election in June had been "challenging" for Plaid Cymru. But Ms Wood repeated her instance that she would stay on as leader, saying the 2021 Welsh Assembly election would be "an opportunity for political change"
"It was difficult seeing Wales following British or - to be more specific - English, voting patterns," the Ynys Mon AM said. "Friends, Plaid Cymru must lead that change," she said. "And I intend to lead it, as our candidate for First Minister."
"Two-party politics dominating, a feeling we were under siege, powerless sometimes. On Brexit and the prospect of no deal, Ms Wood said: "If, in the worst possible scenario, we leave the European Union without a deal, people must have the opportunity to reject that disastrous outcome, either through a public vote, or through parliamentary democracy."
"But remember in the middle of that, a young man from Lampeter was elected [Ben Lake in Ceredigion], the youngest Plaid Cymru MP ever and the party again reaching its highest ever level of MPs." The party would work with trade unions and education providers to offer re-training to 290,000 workers threaten by the increased use of robotic technology in the workplace, she said.
He added: "A newly confident Wales needs a newly confident Plaid Cymru." Ms Wood's insistence she will lead the party at the next assembly election follows reports of disquiet among some Plaid Cymru AMs.
Ahead of her keynote speech to the conference on Friday, Plaid Cymru leader Leanne Wood called for the setting up of a £30m fund over two years to protect Welsh firms from possible damage from Brexit.
Small to medium-sized firms (SMEs) in particular should get specialised help and financial assistance, she said.
Plaid have already agreed a £5m scheme in a budget deal with Labour ministers.
Ms Wood warned that if UK-EU trade talks failed, and Welsh ministers had "no plan" to deal with the consequences, "Welsh nationhood" was at risk.
In an interview with BBC Radio Wales, Ms Wood said the final outcome of the negotiations should be ratified by either a referendum or a vote of AMs.
She told the Good Morning Wales programme: "Whatever deal is finally agreed, whether it is a deal or it isn't a deal, I think it should be ratified either by people in a referendum or by people's representatives in the Welsh Parliament.
"If there is a deal that is going to be damaging and risky then people deserve to have a say and endorse or not that deal."
The Rhondda AM has insisted she will lead the party at the next assembly election in 2021 and that she has the backing of the membership.
Her comments follows reports of disquiet among some Plaid Cymru AMs over whether she should lead the party for another four years.
Suspended Plaid Cymru AM Neil McEvoy has dismissed suggestions he was planning a leadership challenge as "nonsense", saying he backed Ms Wood "100%".Suspended Plaid Cymru AM Neil McEvoy has dismissed suggestions he was planning a leadership challenge as "nonsense", saying he backed Ms Wood "100%".
He was holding a fringe meeting at the conference on Friday, setting out what he described as a "clear vision for Plaid".He was holding a fringe meeting at the conference on Friday, setting out what he described as a "clear vision for Plaid".