Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland leaders sign a Cardiff self-determination pact
John Swinney, Rhun ap Iorwerth and Michelle O'Neill signed a Cardiff memorandum with Sinn Féin president Mary Lou McDonald declaring a right to self-determination. The Guardian reports they called on the British government to prepare for, plan and facilitate constitutional change. The text says no Westminster government has the right to block democracy, while each nation will decide its future in its own way and time.
Geopolitics··Evening
Four names on a Cardiff memorandum
The leaders of the Scottish National Party, Plaid Cymru and Sinn Féin signed a joint agreement in Cardiff on 14 September declaring a right to self-determination. John Swinney, Rhun ap Iorwerth and Michelle O'Neill attended as party leaders; Sinn Féin president Mary Lou McDonald was also present. The memorandum said no Westminster government has the right to block democracy or undermine the principle that their people will decide their own future, and that first ministers in Scotland, Wales and the North of Ireland were committed to independence from the United Kingdom for the first time. It also said the future of their nations belongs in the European Union.[1]
Prepare, plan and facilitate, the Guardian adds
The Guardian describes a Cardiff summit aimed at putting the UK's Celtic nations on the path to independence referendums. Rhun ap Iorwerth, John Swinney, Michelle O'Neill and Mary Lou McDonald signed a memorandum saying momentum is behind their movements and constitutional change is coming. They called on the British government to prepare for, plan and facilitate constitutional change in each jurisdiction. The memorandum recognised that the political landscape across these islands is changing.[2]
Referendums still need London's machinery
Al Jazeera notes that none of the three can leave the UK unilaterally. Scotland's 2014 vote followed Westminster's approval and was rejected 55 percent to 45 percent. Wales has no mechanism for the Senedd to call a referendum on its own. Under the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, London must call a Northern Ireland vote if the secretary of state believes a majority for a united Ireland is likely. The Guardian's account of the signing does not add a date for any of those votes.[1], [2]
