Plaid Cymru Leader Rhun ap Iorwerth has reiterated that his party is for everyone in Wales, regardless of their language, in his first conference speech since taking over from Adam Price. Speaking in Aberystwyth, he said: “Plaid Cymru speaks your language, whatever that language is.” The Ynys Mon MS added that his party is making progress in response to the recent Prosiect Pawb report into misogyny within the party, and thanked everyone carrying out the recommendations.
Reforming to build was also a theme of Rhun ap Iorwerth’s speech. He said that establishing a “strong foundation” for an independent Wales was critical, particularly with Labour leadership in Cardiff Bay being “frustrating”. The Plaid Cymru Cancer Contract was a proposal he tabled to improve cancer treatment. He also spoke of bringing back the Welsh Development Agency to Wales to attract investment, before being absorbed by the Welsh government in 2006.
He told Radio Wales Breakfast that the party was “bringing people with us” and independence was not “pie in the sky”, while emphasizing during his speech: “We are for everyone equally.” The Dyfed-Powys Police Federation had been positioned outside the University of Aberystwyth to prevent protests due to tensions between Welsh-language speakers and the Dyfed-Powys force.
Although Mr ap Iorwerth did not give a timeline for a Welsh independence referendum, he said he had “no fundamental difference at all” with his predecessor, Mr Price, but stressed the need for further growth of support. “‘Real aspiration’ that can be delivered” was his definition of the independence movement. With a UK general election widely predicted for next year, the Plaid Cymru Leader recognized the party will need to work “harder than ever, and smarter than ever” in pursuit of its goals and target seats
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