‘Give Wales right to self-determination’
WALES and Scotland must be given the “right to self-determination” in the coming Bill of Rights, ministers have been told.
Plaid Cymru Westminster leader Liz Saville Roberts yesterday called on the UK Government to commit to changing the wide-ranging Bill on the same morning that the Supreme Court delivered its judgement on a second Scottish independence referendum.
As the Court ruled the referendum was the domain of the UK Government and not Holyrood, Ms Saville Roberts told the Commons: “Today of all days we must look forward to how democracy of these isles will best serve our people, and the people of Wales particularly.
“In June, I asked the Deputy Prime Minister (Dominic Raab) whether his so-called Bill of Rights would include the right to self-determination. He didn’t give me a direct answer, so I will ask the Secretary of State.”
The MP added: “Will he support the inclusion of the right to self-determination for the peoples of the devolved nations within the Bill of Rights? Or doesn’t he believe that Wales should have the right to decide our own destiny?”
Welsh Secretary David TC Davies replied: “Wales has decided its own destiny in several referenda recently, it has decided it would like a devolved administration, which is something that this Conservative administration will fully support. Wales, of course, also voted to leave the European Union, something that I fully supported, but I am not fully sure she or her party did. I fully respect the selfdetermination of the Welsh people to leave the EU and I look forward to her support on that one in future.”
Ms Saville Roberts had earlier accused the UK Government’s renewed focus on “British values” as standing for “relentless, grinding poverty”.
Mr Davies responded, telling MPS the Government had prioritised the least well-off in society.