Plaid leader seeks to join forces with ‘progressive’ SNP

LAID Cymru leader Rhun ap Iorwerth has met with Scotland's First Minister and SNP leader John Swinney to discuss creating a “progressive alliance” between the two countries and end the “race to the right” in Westminster politics.

- ELLIE GOSLEY Reporter

Following the meeting, the pair said an SNP win in Scotland and a Plaid Cymru win in Wales “will be an outcome the UK Government cannot ignore, and will demonstrate an alternative to Nigel Farage”.

Mr ap Iorwerth, the Senedd member for Ynys Mon whose party brought an end to centuries of Labour domination in Caerphilly last week with a historic by-election win, said Plaid Cymru and the SNP had a “genuine opportunity to show the power of progressive politics”.

After the meeting, Mr Swinney called on Wales and Scotland to elect strong centre-left SNP and Plaid governments to send a message “that the hateful, extreme politics of Nigel Farage will never be allowed to win in our nations”.

‘The meeting focused on efforts to tackle child poverty, with Plaid having already pledged it will pilot a version of the Scottish Child Payment if it forms the government in Wales after next year's Senedd elections.

Speaking after yesterday's meeting in Edinburgh, Mr Swinney made clear his view that “Westminster is not working for Scotland or Wales’.

Mr ap Iorwerth said: “Electing a Plaid Cymru government in Wales and an SNP government in Scotland would result in a powerful bloc - one that would serve as a wake-up call for the UK Labour government that they would ignore at their peril.