Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have joined forces to call for independence and membership of the EU

Independence project: the nationalist leaders of three of the four nations of the United Kingdom have joined forces to break away from London and rejoin the European Union. “The era of Westminster is drawing to a close,” Scottish First Minister John Swinney, Northern Ireland First Minister Michelle O’Neill and Welsh First Minister Rhun ap Iorwerth said in a joint statement yesterday.

The first meeting between the three leaders, hosted in Cardiff by the Welsh First Minister, leader of Plaid Cymru, was also attended by Mary Lou McDonald, president of Sinn Féin and leader of the opposition in Ireland.

“We call on the British Government to prepare for and facilitate constitutional change in every jurisdiction,” urges the document signed by the leaders, because “Westminster has no right to block democracy or deny us the right to decide our own future”. The memorandum asserts the right to hold referendums in their respective countries to give citizens the chance to choose whether to remain part of the United Kingdom or become independent.

Nationalist leaders are seeking to capitalise on an unprecedented situation, which for the first time sees three nationalist parties in government in Belfast, Edinburgh and Cardiff. In fact, in last May’s elections, Plaid Cymru won, bringing an end to decades of Labour dominance in Wales, whilst the Scottish National Party has been in power in Scotland since 2007 and, in Belfast, Sinn Féin has secured the right to appoint the First Minister but is part of a coalition government alongside the DUP, the Protestant party.

Britain’s exit from the European Union has galvanised the independence movements and strengthened Sinn Féin, the SNP and Plaid Cymru, three strongly pro-European parties. The three leaders stated yesterday that Brexit has damaged their economies and declared that, once independence from London has been achieved, ‘the future of our nations lies in the EU’.