Scottish, Welsh, Northern Irish party leaders claim right to choose independence

From left: First Minister of Scotland John Swinney, First Minister of Wales Rhun ap Iorwerth, Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald and First Minister of Northern Ireland Michelle O'Neill, during a meeting at Voco St. David's Cardiff, to discuss the "pursuit of a different attitude" from the U.K. Government and the future of independence for their respective countries, Monday Sept. 14, 2026. (Ben Birchall/PA Images via Getty Images)

Leaders of the main Scottish, Northern Irish and Welsh nationalist parties on Monday declared their right to choose whether to remain in the U.K. or not at a rare meeting in the Welsh capital Cardiff.

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 U.K.

The meeting came just days after U.S. 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”.

“Our nations have the right to self-determination. No Westminster government (the U.K. government) has the right to block democracy or undermine the principle that our people will decide their own future,” a memorandum of understanding stated.

SNP leader John Swinney, Rhun ap Iorwerth, leader of Plaid Cymru in Wales 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.

O’Neill is also Northern Ireland’s first minister while Iorwerth and Swinney are first ministers of their respective nations.

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.

“The future of our nations belongs in the European Union.”

The independence parties are the biggest in both the Scottish and Welsh parliaments for the first time since devolution measures began in 1999. Sinn Fein has been the biggest party in Northern Ireland’s assembly since 2022.

The regional parliaments have key powers on health, education, housing, transport and environment matters, along with some tax 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,” the agreement said.

While the three parties are united in their desire to break away from the U.K. they have varying positions on how and when this might take place.

The SNP wants a second independence referendum after an earlier ballot in 2014 saw Scotland narrowly vote to remain part of Britain. Successive U.K. governments have ruled out an immediate 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 U.K. territory Northern Ireland.

Plaid Cymru seeks Welsh independence in the longer term but Iorwerth has ruled out pressing for any referendum immediately.

Good Friday Agreement

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”.

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.

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.

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.

He reportedly sent a letter to Swinney later clarifying that a referendum remained “off limits”.