THE Cardiff summit was a political moment “we should pay attention to”, according to one of Scotland’s leading political thinkers.
Professor Murray Leith of the University of the West of Scotland said the event also aided John Swinney’s efforts to manage “internal party politics” in the SNP.
Speaking to the Sunday National, the political scientist said that the Cardiff meeting between Swinney, Sinn Fein’s Michelle O’Neill and Plaid Cymru’s Rhun ap Iorwerth underlined how nationalists were now in power in all the UK’s devolved parliaments.
It’s certainly an event and one we should pay attention to,” said Prof Leith.
“We should pay attention to it because of what it represents, it represents the fact that the other legislatures that exist outside of London are now controlled by parties that wish to see power more firmly located outside of London.”
At the summit, political leaders signed a joint declaration asserting that it was clear “Westminster’s time is coming to an end”.
Prof Leith said that the declaration “makes for nice press” but it remained to be seen whether the summit would go down in the history books as a turning point.
However, he argued that the summit would help Swinney to deal with SNP members who might complain he is doing too little on the party’s core cause.
“One of the complaints that John Swinney gets from members of his own party is that perhaps he’s not always as focused on independence as he should be,” said the academic.
“From that perspective it’s a clear win for him in terms of his internal party politics. Although let me stress, I don’t think he’s under any direct challenge at the moment.”
The Cardiff summit saw leaders call on Westminster to “prepare for, plan and facilitate constitutional change” as well as a declaration the three parties involved “reject Whitehall’s broken economic model” and supported joining the EU.
The declaration in the morning involved Swinney, O’Neill and ap Iorwerth while the afternoon saw the Scottish and Welsh governments sign an agreement for the two to work together on issues such as tackling child poverty.
The declaration said: “The political landscape across these islands is changing.
“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.
“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.
“We believe there is a better way: nations working together as equals, sharing ideas and expertise, and building relationships based on mutual respect and common interests.
“Momentum is behind our movements; we believe that constitutional change is coming.”
Swinney used the meeting to reiterate calls for a second independence referendum to be held within the next five years, while O’Neill said that the “British government cannot continue to hold back the tide” on reunification.
Plaid Cymru have ruled out holding an independence referendum in their first term in government, which began in May ending more than two decades of Labour rule in Wales.
However, ap Iorwerth made clear that he sees Wales’s future as an independent country, saying: “My job is to persuade and it seems from the polls, from the direction of travel, that people more and more are absolutely getting persuaded.”
It came after two significant interventions on constitutional questions in the UK as US president Donald Trump signalled support for a united Ireland, calling it “one of the naturals of all time”.
Earlier in the month, Andy Burnham said in the Commons that Scotland could have another independence referendum if there was a “clear consensus” on the issue, later clarifying the UK Government was still opposed to granting indyref2.
