Plaid Cymru leader asks PM for new deal for Wales at conference

Plaid Cymru leader and Welsh First Minister Rhun ap Iorwerth has formally called on Prime Minister Andy Burnham to deliver a new deal for Wales, in a letter and a speech at the party's annual conference in Llandudno. It was Plaid Cymru's first conference since it became the governing party in Wales, ending 27 years of Labour control, and the first time its leader has addressed members as First Minister.

In the 2,000-word letter, he asks for further powers to be devolved from Westminster to Cardiff, including rail infrastructure, the Crown Estate, and policing and justice. He also wants fair funding for Wales, fiscal flexibilities over reserves and borrowing, money owed for rail infrastructure, action over HS2 spending, and welfare powers. He says this should put Wales on an equal footing with Scotland as a bare minimum. The new deal, he said, would treat Wales 'not as a region of England, but as a nation in its own rights.'

Mr ap Iorwerth told delegates he had looked the Prime Minister in the eye and told him not to undermine Wales as a nation or bypass the Senedd. He said he would hold him to that promise, and that Wales would hold him to it. He argued Andy Burnham has more powers over policing in Manchester than he has as First Minister of Wales, and said commission after commission had backed devolving policing. The UK government is reported to be sceptical about handing over the powers. Andy Burnham has said he would be open to discussing new ideas and potentially devolving policing and justice.

The conference came amid pressure on the new Welsh government. Health workers were on strike outside the conference centre. Wales has the longest NHS waiting lists in the UK, and provisional figures for August showed 5,100 two-year waits, worse than when Plaid entered government. Mr ap Iorwerth defended an early £145m cash injection for the NHS, changes to diagnostics and treatment, and work towards 10 surgical hubs. He also said the upcoming budget would be tough, with real terms reductions in funding from the UK government, higher inflation and economic uncertainty. Plaid's mid-year spending plans were defeated in the Senedd in the summer, and it governs as a minority administration.

Opponents and critics say the party is too focused on constitutional questions while services struggle. Plaid has still not published a child poverty strategy or target, despite promising a target within its first 100 days. Mr ap Iorwerth said the strategy is being developed and a meaningful target will be set by next year. He said he accepted there was impatience.

On independence, Mr ap Iorwerth said there was no turning back on the journey. He said he believes an independent Wales is possible in his lifetime but has not set a referendum date because it is in the hands of the Welsh people. He also said Plaid's minority status is not unusual, as no single party has ever had an overall majority in the history of Welsh devolution, and that it must build relationships with other parties. The First Ministers are due to meet the Prime Minister in the coming weeks, and the Welsh government's spending plans are expected soon.