Plaid Cymru and SNP to join forces

Emily Price

The Scottish National Party and Plaid Cymru have pledged to join forces in a bid to ensure that Westminster respects the wishes of both Wales and Scotland.

Scottish First Minister John Swinney and Plaid Cymru Leader Rhun ap Iorwerth will meet in Bute House in Edinburgh on Thursday (October 30) to discuss their new partnership.

The meeting will provide the opportunity to discuss shared areas of interest including the cost of living crisis, the forthcoming UK Government Budget and the relationship between Scotland and Wales.

The pair have pledged to work together to offer a "positive alternative" to Westminster’s "race to the right" to keep up with Nigel Farage.

Both leaders have highlighted the potential for a progressive alliance between Scotland and Wales to ensure that the UK Labour Government respects the wishes of both nations.

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Child payments

The pair will also discuss the SNP Government’s action to tackle child poverty including the transformational Scottish Child Payment.

The monthly payment worth £27.15 a week is unique to Scotland and over 300,000 children are said to be benefiting from it.

Earlier this year Plaid announced it would create a similar child payment pilot in Wales if the party came to power at the next Senedd election.

Recent polling has revealed that May's Welsh election will be a two horse race between Plaid Cymru and Reform UK.

Analysis in Scotland published shows that the SNP would secure a majority if the Holyrood elections were held today.

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Alliances

The Scottish and Welsh nationalist parties have formed alliances before.

In 2001 the two parties pooled their resources to create a "Celtic alliance" in Westminster making them the largest opposition party after the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats.

Ahead of the meeting, Plaid Cymru Leader Rhun ap Iorwerth said: "I am looking forward to meeting with the First Minister of Scotland John Swinney to discuss our shared vision for the future of our nations.

"A Plaid Cymru Government would be eager to adopt best practice from around the world when it comes to adopting policies to improve people’s day-to-day lives and where better to start than with one of our closest allies in Scotland.

"The Scottish Child Payment is a radical and exciting policy which we are committed to introducing as a Welsh pilot should Plaid Cymru form the next government in May.

"Thanks to measures like this, Scotland is the only part of the UK where child poverty rates are set to drop in the coming years. I want that to be the case in Wales too.

"We have a genuine opportunity to show the power of progressive politics through close and continued cooperation between Scotland and Wales.

"With an SNP Government in Scotland and a Plaid Cymru Government in Wales next May, our nations will have the strongest voices possible that Westminster can simply no longer ignore."

Bills

Scottish First Minister John Swinney added: "The Westminster status quo is not working – bills are going up, people are struggling, and the UK Labour Government’s answer is racing further and further to the right to keep up with Nigel Farage.

"That is not a status quo I am willing to accept – and I will be delighted to work with my friends in Plaid Cymru to show the people of Scotland and Wales that there is a positive alternative to Westminster’s despair and decline.

"Our vision is of a society in which we support people with the cost of living rather than leaving them to languish while the rich get richer.  And where we lift children out of poverty, rather than pushing them into poverty with policies like the Two Child Cap.

"We can make clear that a better future is possible – and that comes with the fresh start of independence."