Celtic first ministers tell London that Westminster's time is ending

The first ministers of Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland met in Cardiff on 14 September and signed a memorandum that said "Westminster's time is coming to an end." Rhun ap Iorwerth of Plaid Cymru hosted John Swinney of the Scottish National Party and Michelle O'Neill of Sinn Fein. Mary Lou McDonald, Sinn Fein president and leader of the opposition in the Irish Dail, sat with them. It was the first face-to-face gathering of the three nationalist leaders since ap Iorwerth became first minister after May's Senedd election.

The text said the three nations have a right to self-determination and that no Westminster government has the right to block democracy or to undermine the principle that their people decide their own future. "Momentum is behind our movements; we believe that constitutional change is coming," it said. The leaders called on the British government to prepare for, plan and facilitate constitutional change in each jurisdiction. They also wrote that the future of their nations belongs in the European Union.

Same table, different clocks

For the first time since devolution, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland all have first ministers who want to leave the United Kingdom. That is the fact the memorandum exists to advertise. The next steps are not aligned. Swinney and O'Neill speak openly about referendums. Ap Iorwerth has ruled out pushing for a Welsh independence vote now. Northern Ireland already has a legal path under the 1998 Belfast Agreement: a border poll if the secretary of state judges that a majority would back unification with the Republic. Scotland's last independence referendum was in 2014. Downing Street has refused a second one. Wales has never held one.

The four met as party leaders, not as a formal intergovernmental council. They listed jobs, the economy, energy and European and international work as fields for practical co-operation. Ap Iorwerth and Swinney were due to sign a further bilateral note on shared interests later in the day. After the meeting ap Iorwerth said Westminster is not working. Swinney said that for the first time the three first ministers all believe their countries should decide their own future.

The reply from Whitehall

A UK government spokesperson said the prime minister's method with first ministers is partnership focused on growth and jobs. That is the standard unionist holding line. It does not answer the specific ask in the memorandum: that London plan for constitutional change rather than wait to block it. The Cardiff text landed days after President Donald Trump, visiting Ireland, repeated his support for a united Ireland and declined to talk about Scotland "yet."

None of the three governments can legislate the United Kingdom out of existence from Cardiff Bay, Holyrood or Stormont. They can co-ordinate language, share legal work on energy and trade, and keep the claim that recent elections were a signal that the current settlement is temporary. The document they signed is not a referendum date. It is a joint statement that they will treat the next constitutional argument as a shared one. London can ignore the adjectives. It will have to answer the request to plan.