KEIR Starmer has been urged to adopt "groundbreaking" recommendations from a cross-party report that suggests Wales could be an independent nation “without delay”.

The final report of the Independent Commission on the Constitutional Future of Wales was published on Thursday and concluded the status quo and current devolution settlement are “not sustainable”, adding that independence was viable.

The commission was established under the co-operation agreement between Plaid Cymru and the Welsh Government and has spent the past two years considering options for constitutional reform.

It included representation from all major political parties in Wales who agreed unanimously to the recommendations of the final report.

Ex-Plaid Cymru leader Adam Price said it showed how Welsh independence had moved "from the margins into the mainstream". 

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Starmer’s Labour Party previously said they would “engage constructively” with the report’s findings and Plaid Cymru MP Liz Saville-Roberts is now urging him to deliver on that pledge.

The report calls for “urgent changes”, including the devolution of justice, policing and rail infrastructure, which it says would “improve accountability and service delivery”.

It additionally calls for “major changes to the way Wales is funded” to ensure devolution can “maximise value for money for the people of Wales” and finds that legislated protections for intergovernmental relations are needed to “deliver efficiently in the public interest.” 

Saville-Roberts said a previous constitutional report from Gordon Brown on devolution was “light on detail”, but Labour now has “no excuse” to avoid the recommendations in this report.

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She said : "This ground-breaking cross-party report marks a turning point in Wales's constitutional journey. The urgency now lies in the UK Labour leadership swiftly adopting the report’s proposals. 

“Gordon Brown’s 2022 report was light on detail for Wales, supposedly due to Labour awaiting the final report of the Welsh Government-commissioned Independent Commission on the Constitutional Future of Wales. With this report now in hand, Labour has no excuse for avoiding its landmark recommendations. 

“Keir Starmer must now adopt the report’s recommendations without delay.

“He must urgently commit at the very least to fully devolving justice, policing, broadcasting, the Crown Estate and rail infrastructure. He should outline plans to overhaul Wales’s flawed funding formula, and for legislation to protect intergovernmental relations.

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“If he respects Welsh devolution, and the independent process that led to these conclusions, he will not hesitate before agreeing to these proposals.”

The three viable constitutional options outlined by the commission are enhanced devolution, a federal UK, and an independent Wales. 

Labour’s Commission of the UK’s Future in December 2022 – headed up by Brown - fell short of supporting the full devolution of any policy area to Wales, Plaid Cymru said.

The report did, however, include a section that noted the establishment of the Independent Commission on the Constitutional Future of Wales, noting that a Labour Government would “engage constructively with its recommendations”. 

Writing for The National, former Plaid Cymru leader Price highlighted how back in the 1970s Welsh independence regarded a “complete non-starter” by the Royal Commission on the Constitution set up by Harold Wilson.

Chaired by the Scottish judge Lord Kilbrandon, it found “the very idea of dividing up Great Britain into three sovereign states nonsensical”, yet now it is deemed perfectly viable.

Price said on the this week’s report: “That three Unionist party representatives – including a Conservative – could sign up to this as a unanimous statement is symbol of how far Welsh independence has moved from the margins to the mainstream.”