This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-politics-45745696

The article has changed 10 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 2 Version 3
Independence on the table after Brexit - Plaid's Price Independence on the table after Brexit - Plaid's Price
(about 1 hour later)
Welsh independence must be "on the table" after Brexit, Plaid Cymru's new leader has said.Welsh independence must be "on the table" after Brexit, Plaid Cymru's new leader has said.
Adam Price said if there is a "hard" Irish border and the UK leaves the EU single market and customs union "the appetite for Scottish independence and Irish unity" would be "insatiable". Adam Price said if there was a "hard" Irish border and the UK left the EU single market and customs union "the appetite for Scottish independence and Irish unity" would be "insatiable".
He warned of a Wales "swallowed into an 'England and Wales' entity where we are at the mercy of Westminster". He warned of a Wales "at the mercy of Westminster".
Mr Price will address Plaid Cymru's autumn conference in Cardigan later. Mr Price told Plaid Cymru's autumn conference voters should be given the chance to "avert disaster".
Downing Street says the prime minister's Chequers plan for Brexit would create a free trade area for industrial and agricultural goods with the EU, based on a "common rule book", and resolve concerns about the border between Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic. The new leader, who supports a fresh referendum on Brexit, told delegates Wales was on "Titanic's deck", and that the UK government's strategy was to tell "the iceberg to move".
"It's the people that are left locked in the third-class cabins," he said.
Downing Street said the prime minister's Chequers plan for Brexit would create a free trade area for industrial and agricultural goods with the EU based on a "common rule book", and resolve concerns about the border between Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic.
But Theresa May's proposals have been attacked by both Brexiteer and pro-EU Tory MPs, while the European Union's chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier has said he is "strongly" opposed to key parts of her plan.But Theresa May's proposals have been attacked by both Brexiteer and pro-EU Tory MPs, while the European Union's chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier has said he is "strongly" opposed to key parts of her plan.
Meanwhile Plaid Cymru members made the decriminalisation of drugs party policy on Friday morning. Pitching for independence, Mr Price told conference: "We can be fair and flourishing. We can be self-governing and successful. We can be Welsh and European."
Mr Price said Brexit was threatening a "constitutional crisis - with or without a deal". He accused unionist parties of being devoid of ideas.
"If the Brexiteers in Westminster have their way we will be out of the single market and customs union and with a hard border on the island of Ireland," he said. "The cupboard is bare," he said, claiming Labour represented "the politics of the past".
"The appetite for Scottish independence and Irish unity will become insatiable." In his wide-ranging address Mr Price said Brexit would pose "the greatest existential threat of our generation to the agricultural sector as a whole".
Welsh independence, Mr Price said, "must be on the table" as "only by taking our future into our own hands can we ensure that our country isn't swallowed into an 'England and Wales' entity where we are at the mercy of Westminster". And he promised a "new vision for health and care" that NHS founder Aneruin Bevan "could only dream of", with reviews to examine the creation of a National Care Service and whether GPs should continue to act as private operators.
The Plaid Cymru leader said that if his party was in government after the 2021 election in Wales, it would "put a Welsh Independence Referendum Act on the statute book at the earliest possible opportunity". Mr Price said Plaid in power would build a "National Western Rail Line" from Swansea to Bangor, and promised a "comprehensive child package" so parents could return to work when they choose.
This would allow a referendum "by the end of the decade at the latest, or earlier should there be a material change in the UK's constitutional landscape", he said. "We must fire up the national imagination with a sense of the Wales that might yet be," he said.
Mr Price, AM for Carmarthen East and Dinefwr, won the leadership from Leanne Wood last week. "We cannot afford to keep doing what we have done for another five years."
In the campaign he said he aimed to win the next two Welsh elections - in 2021 and 2026 - and follow them with a referendum on independence. In his speech, Plaid's new leader admitted the party had to "transform" and needed an "honest assessment of where" it is at.
He leads the third largest group in the Senedd, behind Labour and the Tories, with 10 of the 60 seats. He has commissioned former SNP Westminster leader Angus Robertson to conduct a "root and branch review" of the party's campaign machinery.
AnalysisAnalysis
By BBC Wales political editor Felicity EvansBy BBC Wales political editor Felicity Evans
Adam Price wants to capitalise on the momentum last week's convincing victory in the leadership contest has given him.Adam Price wants to capitalise on the momentum last week's convincing victory in the leadership contest has given him.
Where the Conservatives are divided on Brexit and Labour is ambivalent about another referendum he wants to break through with a clear and decisive call for a second vote.Where the Conservatives are divided on Brexit and Labour is ambivalent about another referendum he wants to break through with a clear and decisive call for a second vote.
While this could alienate as many voters as it pleases, what it will do is energise the party's base. That's why he's placing Independence front and centre too - promising a referendum within a decade of taking power.While this could alienate as many voters as it pleases, what it will do is energise the party's base. That's why he's placing Independence front and centre too - promising a referendum within a decade of taking power.
This is a gamble - opinion polls suggest independence is a minority pursuit in Wales, but for Plaid it's key. Adam Price wants to turn members into activists who will spread the message further afield.This is a gamble - opinion polls suggest independence is a minority pursuit in Wales, but for Plaid it's key. Adam Price wants to turn members into activists who will spread the message further afield.
But bold policy and big ambitions have to be delivered - he says he wants to be Wales' FM in 2021 - Plaid is currently the third largest party in the assembly. It's going to be a big ask to achieve that sort of turn around in three years. But bold policy and big ambitions have to be delivered.
Mr Price says he wants to be Wales' FM in 2021, but Plaid is currently the third largest party in the assembly.
It's going to be a big ask to achieve that sort of turnaround in three years.
Before conference began on Friday, Mr Price said Brexit was threatening a "constitutional crisis - with or without a deal", claiming that: "The appetite for Scottish independence and Irish unity will become insatiable."
Welsh independence, Mr Price said, "must be on the table" in order to "ensure that our country isn't swallowed into an 'England and Wales' entity where we are at the mercy of Westminster".
The Plaid Cymru leader said that if his party was in government after the 2021 election in Wales, it would "put a Welsh Independence Referendum Act on the statute book at the earliest possible opportunity".