Published : 14 Sep 2026, 11:43 PM
Updated : 16 Sep 2026, 11:50 AM
Westminster is facing a striking show of unity as the leaders of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland join forces to warn that its days are “numbered”.
Their joint declaration puts fresh pressure on the British government to allow independence referendums across the three nations, reports The Independent.
Scottish National Party (SNP) leader John Swinney, Plaid Cymru leader Rhun ap Iorwerth and Sinn Féin vice president Michelle O'Neill formalised the alliance through a memorandum of understanding signed during talks in Cardiff on Monday, it added.
Sinn Féin president Mary Lou McDonald -- who leads the opposition in the Irish Dáil -- also joined the group, which collectively urged London to "prepare for, plan and facilitate constitutional change" across each of their jurisdictions.
The pact marks the first time the leaders of all three devolved nations have simultaneously been committed to independence from the United Kingdom -- a fact the signatories highlighted as a historic signal to audiences both within Britain and abroad.
"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 states, according to The Independent.
Beyond independence, the memorandum sets out shared ambitions on economic policy, energy development, and international cooperation.
The leaders committed to rejecting what they called "Whitehall's broken economic model" and declared that the future of their nations "belongs in the European Union."
The pact also asserts the right to self-determination, stating that no Westminster government holds the authority to "block democracy or undermine the principle that our people will decide their own future."
The leaders acknowledged that their parties hold differing positions on the precise shape of constitutional change, but agreed that each nation would determine its own path in its own time.
The four met in their capacity as party leaders rather than as heads of their respective governments.
