THE snap 2017 General Election will “go down in history as a blunder of epic proportions, Plaid Cymru leader Leanne Wood said yesterday.
Wood told the SNP Conference in Glasgow that her party would unite with the SNP in “rejecting the politics of hate, of greed and of imperialism”, adding: “We all know that we can build something better than this.”
Railing against any Westminster move to retain authority over devolved areas when powers transfer back from Brussels, she said cooperation between Edinburgh and Cardiff is “crucial during this time of political upheaval”.
Wood argued that it “suits” Theresa May and Labour to “marginalise” Scottish and Welsh voices, insisting: “We won’t allow the people in our countries to be marginalised or ignored and we will never stop challenging the Westminster political establishment.”
Wood, whose party increased its number of MPs to four in June, also used her SNP Conference speech to take aim at Welsh Labour just days after pulling out of their cooperation deal.
On Friday Plaid Cymru withdrew from the Compact to Move Wales Forward – which was brokered after Labour failed to win a Senedd majority last year – and accused Carwyn Jones’ party of failing on health, education and more.
Yesterday she used her address in Glasgow to lambast her rivals on their handling of the bedroom tax, tuition fees and more, stating: “Labour does not support the devolution of social security to Wales. Where it already has the powers it will not use them.”
Woods said Wales and Scotland are “at different stages in our national journeys”, but added that Scotland’s experience proves “Wales has the potential to succeed as a nation”.
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