Leaders of the main Scottish, Northern Irish and Welsh nationalist parties on Monday declared their right to choose whether to remain in the UK or not at a rare meeting in the Welsh capital Cardiff.
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Leaders → declare → capital
All three parties — the Scottish National Party (SNP), Plaid Cymru in Wales and the pro-Irish unity Sinn Fein — want to break away from the UK.
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parties → want → UK
The meeting came just days after US President Donald Trump waded in, saying he would back a united Ireland, which Northern Ireland’s Michelle O’Neill said showed “the unity debate is very much alive”.
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debate → come → Ireland
“Our nations have the right to self-determination.
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nations → have → determination
No Westminster government (the UK government) has the right to block democracy or undermine the principle that our people will decide their own future,” a memorandum of understanding stated.
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memorandum → have → understanding
SNP leader John Swinney, leader of Plaid Cymru in Wales, Rhun ap Iorwerth, and Mary Lou McDonald and O’Neill, leader and deputy leader of pro-Irish unity Sinn Fein, met in their capacity as party leaders, rather than as officials in their respective governments.
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Swinney → meet → governments
Announcing the agreement, Swinney said the three parties were “absolutely united by that principle of self-determination”, adding that this “lies at the heart of the agreement that we have signed today”.
“For the first time ever, people across these islands have first ministers in Scotland, in Wales and in the North of Ireland who are all committed to independence from the United Kingdom,” the memorandum of understanding said.
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memorandum → announce → understanding
“The future of our nations belongs in the European Union.”
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future → belong → Union
The independence parties are the biggest in both the Scottish and Welsh parliaments for the first time since devolution measures began in 1999.
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measures → begin → 1999
The regional parliaments have key powers on health, education, housing, transport and environment matters, along with some tax gathering.
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parliaments → have → gathering
‘Momentum’
“For people watching across these islands – for people watching around the world — there could be no clearer sign that Westminster’s time is coming to an end
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time → watch → end
,” the agreement said.
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agreement → say → ?
While the three parties are united in their desire to break away from the UK they have varying positions on how and when this might take place.
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this → unite → place
The SNP wants a second independence referendum after an earlier ballot in 2014 saw Scotland narrowly vote to remain part of Britain.
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Scotland → want → Britain
Successive UK governments have ruled out an immediate rerun.
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governments → rule → rerun
Sinn Fein, the former political wing of the paramilitary Irish Republican Army (IRA), wants to see a vote on Ireland being reunified with the UK territory of Northern Ireland.
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vote → want → Ireland
Plaid Cymru seeks Welsh independence in the longer term, but Iorwerth has ruled out pressing for any referendum immediately.
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Iorwerth → seek → referendum
In Northern Ireland, British Prime Minister Andy Burnham sparked a sharp response from Sinn Fein in August, shortly after taking power the previous month, when he said a referendum on Irish unity was “off the table”.
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referendum → spark → table
The 1998 Good Friday peace agreement, which largely ended three decades of conflict over British rule, provides for a referendum if the British government’s Northern Ireland minister believes a majority is likely to favour joining the Republic of Ireland.
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majority → end → Ireland
Sinn Fein leader McDonald said the prime minister had no authority to “remove any provision of the Good Friday Agreement”, and Burnham backtracked in parliament last week.
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Burnham → say → parliament
On Scotland, Burnham — a former mayor of Manchester and a strong advocate of giving greater power to English local authorities — told lawmakers there could be another vote if there was a “clear consensus” north of the border for it.
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Burnham → give → it
He reportedly sent a letter to Swinney later clarifying that a referendum remained “off limits”.
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referendum → send → limits
The Aporia
