Plaid Cymru candidate: Welsh election not focused on independence. Seventeen hours ago. BBC Wales’ Teleri Glyn-Jones. Images from Getty. A Plaid Cymru candidate stated that the forthcoming Senedd election is “not about independence.” Heledd Fychan rejected accusations from opposing parties that Plaid Cymru would prioritize Wales’ exit from the United Kingdom if it formed the next Welsh government after May’s vote. On BBC Politics Wales, Welsh Conservative Samuel Kurtz alleged that Plaid would divert “hard-earned taxpayers’ money” toward independence efforts in its first 100 days in power. The Welsh Liberal Democrats informed the show they would not cooperate with any party allocating funds to pursue a UK departure. Kurtz, the Welsh Tory, added that a Plaid-led government “would spend hard-earned taxpayers’ money focusing on independence” in its initial 100 days, “which would make Wales poorer and the people of Wales poorer.” However, Fychan insisted that her party was not offering independence to voters in the May 7 election, saying: “We’ve said for over a year that there would not be a referendum during the first term of a Plaid Cymru government.” That is completely clear. “But our commitment there is also about ensuring that… we need to see the devolution of justice and policing, the devolution of the Crown Estate, the devolution of rail infrastructure.” She added: “This isn’t an election about independence because a referendum on independence won’t happen in this first term. What people want to see is a government that uses the powers we have in the most impactful way.” On 12 April, Fychan, Kurtz, and Welsh Liberal Democrat Rodney Berman featured on Politics Wales.
