Welsh independence ‘viable’ but ‘most uncertain option’ for Wales’s future, report finds
Welsh independence is “viable” but is the “most uncertain option” for Wales’s future, a new report has found.
The Independent Commission on the Constitutional Future of Wales was set up by the Welsh government to look at the country’s governance.
It published a report of its findings on Thursday after two years of research.
Co-chaired by Cardiff University professor Laura McAllister and former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, the commission focused on three options – increased devolution, a federal UK and an independent Wales.
Its report concluded that all three of those options were “viable” but that Welsh independence was “by far the most uncertain option”.
The report outlined risks in terms of currency, borders, trade, cost and capacity and warned they were “greater post-Brexit“.
Rowan Williams and Laura McAllister
A federal UK would be somewhere between independence and the continuation of a union.
But the report concludes there is “currently little appetite for this in England” and that it “runs counter to the aspirations of the Scottish government”.
Enhancing devolution would “avoid some of the risk” of other options, the report concludes.
But it would not change the “economic position of Wales in the United Kingdom”.
“Moving to a federal structure for the UK, or an independent Wales, would require a referendum, or referendums, preceded by extensive debate and public information,” it added.
“A federal structure would require the support of the rest of the UK.”
Wales’s outgoing first minister, Mark Drakeford, has welcomed the report.
“I want to thank the Commission and everyone from across Wales who contributed to the process,” he said.
“The final report is an important moment in the debate on the constitutional journey of Wales.
“It is a serious piece of work that deserves careful consideration and the Welsh government will be reviewing it in detail.”
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But the Welsh Conservatives – the largest opposition party in the Senedd – have called it a “distraction”.
Shadow minister for the constitution, Darren Millar, said the Welsh government should have “a laser-like focus on getting to grips with unacceptable waiting lists, improving educational outcomes and better pay for hard-working people”.
However, Mr Millar acknowledged there were “some interesting aspects of this report which will require further consideration”.
A police officer who was driving a van that followed two teenagers shortly before they died in an e-bike crash will not be prosecuted.
The deaths of Harvey Evans, 15, and Kyrees Sullivan, 16, sparked riots in the Ely area of Cardiff in May 2023.
The officer was facing a dangerous driving allegation but prosecutors decided there was not enough evidence for a realistic prospect of conviction.
A Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) statement said: “We fully understand that this will be disappointing news for the families of both boys and will offer a meeting with them to explain our reasoning further.”
Rumours on social media that the teenagers were being pursued by police were initially denied.
South Wales Police said none of its vehicles were in Snowden Road at the time of the crash.
But police watchdog the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) later confirmed it was investigating after video appeared to show them being followed by a van – without blue lights or a siren – minutes before the incident.
Other footage, however, showed the van turn off and it wasn’t following the boys at the time of the collision.
A key factor under consideration was whether there was any point at which the actions of the officers in the van “constituted a pursuit”.
CCTV showed a police van following the bike moments before it crashed
Read more:
Timeline of events before fatal Cardiff crash
The driver and passenger of the marked police van were previously issued with gross misconduct notices.
A second investigation was also opened by the IOPC into issues including police management of the crash scene and treatment of the families.
Riots broke out in the Ely area after the boys’ death. Pic: PA
Pic: PA
A riot of several hours broke out after the boys’ deaths, with cars set alight and fireworks and other missiles thrown at police.
Eleven officers needed hospital treatment and 31 people were eventually charged.
The decision not to charge the police officer driving the van can be challenged under the victims’ right of review scheme.
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