Nationalist leaders sign pact to coordinate push to break up United Kingdom
Leaders of Scotland's, Wales' and Northern Ireland's nationalist parties signed a joint agreement in Cardiff to coordinate their independence ambitions, days after Donald Trump's surprise declaration that a united Ireland was 'inevitable.'
The leaders of three nationalist parties seeking to break up the United Kingdom signed a joint agreement on Monday in Cardiff to coordinate their efforts, creating a fresh challenge for UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham. The signing came just days after US President Donald Trump unexpectedly declared that a united Ireland was "inevitable."
The meeting brought together Wales First Minister Rhun ap Iorwerth, Northern Ireland First Minister Michelle O'Neill, and Scotland First Minister John Swinney. In a joint statement, the three parties said each nation has the right to determine its own future through democratic means, in line with the wishes of its people.
The gathering marked the first time all three of the UK's devolved administrations — in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland — are led by nationalist parties, following Plaid Cymru's May election victory over Burnham's Labour Party, long the dominant force in Welsh politics.
Swinney, who has led Scotland since 2024, is pushing for a second independence referendum after the failed 2014 vote, though Burnham — who controls whether such a vote can proceed — has ruled it out. Swinney said he believed Burnham would be the last prime minister of the United Kingdom, predicting Scots would choose independence if given the chance, citing recent polling.
Sinn Féin, which has spent nearly three decades calling on the British government to permit a border poll in Northern Ireland, was represented at the meeting by both O'Neill and party leader Mary Lou McDonald. McDonald attributed Trump's comments to a longstanding American sympathy for the Irish.
Ireland's Taoiseach, Micheál Martin, who did not comment on Trump's remarks over the weekend, broke his silence on Monday, warning that oversimplified calls for unity cause more harm than good — a comment aimed indirectly at Sinn Féin's rhetoric.
