SNP and Plaid Cymru join forces

Monday, 11 April 2005 12:00 AM

The SNP and Plaid Cymru have joined campaigning forces today in Wales, with SNP leader Alex Salmond visiting nationalist colleagues in North Wales.

The two parties normally vote together in Westminster and in 1986 signed a formal convention, but such joint campaigning is still rare.

Party leaders Mr Salmond and Elfyn Llwyd also held a joint press conference in which they said that only Plaid and the SNP have consistently put Scotland and Wales first.

The two parties are also campaigning strongly against the war in Iraq and are attempting to impeach the Prime Minister for his role.

Mr Salmond, said: "SNP and Plaid Cymru MPs have taken the Prime Minister to task at every opportunity for misleading Parliament and the people of the United Kingdom, taking us into an illegal war in Iraq. It is crucial that we hold him to account for his actions and the SNP and Plaid Cymru are committed to pursuing impeachment in the next Parliament.

"Even the Labour Party are ashamed of their leader now, refusing to put him on their election material. No wonder the SNP and Plaid Cymru are the only parties trusted to stand up for Wales and Scotland."

Mr Llwyd said: "Plaid Cymru and the SNP work together extremely well as a team in parliament, and every additional elected MP will boost our power to stand up for Wales and Scotland on key issues that really matter to our people, such as fair pensions and extra police.

"A strong presence for our two parties will be a constant reminder to the London parties that they will ignore the needs of Scotland and Wales at their peril."

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