Reform Senedd motion declaring Wales should stay in UK voted down

The Senedd has narrowly rejected a Reform motion declaring Wales should remain part of the United Kingdom.

The vote was initially tied, with 45 members backing the motion and 45 opposed, requiring Presiding Officer Huw Irranca-Davies to cast the deciding vote against the proposal in line with parliamentary convention.

A Labour amendment, which sought to add that "devolution is the settled will" of Wales offering "a better, more secure and more prosperous future" than independence, was defeated by 82 votes to eight.

Members instead passed a revised motion incorporating an amendment proposed by Plaid Cymru, stating "the people of Wales should decide Wales' constitutional future".

The amended motion was backed by 45 MSs, with 37 voting against and eight members abstaining, after a lively debate opened by Reform's Clwyd MS Adrian Mason.

Mason argued that Wales benefited from a combination of devolved government and membership of the UK, citing the advantages of economic integration, shared institutions and the pooling of resources.

That meant "we can be Welsh without having to choose between being Welsh and being British", he said, arguing that any case for independence should be tested against practical questions about currency, public spending, pensions and trade.

Conservative Senedd group leader Darren Millar said: "Wales is better off in the United Kingdom and the United Kingdom is better off with Wales."

He accused First Minister Rhun ap Iorwerth of putting constitutional politics ahead of public services.

Labour's Huw Thomas insisted Wales was "more secure and more prosperous" as part of the UK, while adding that "the union doesn't have a God-given right to exist" and that Wales' constitutional future should be decided by the Welsh people.

Plaid Cymru minister Dafydd Trystan Davies argued that the central issue was who should decide Wales' future constitutional arrangements, rather than whether the country should remain within the UK or become independent.

"The people of Wales are sovereign," he said. "It is for us to determine our future, wherever that may lead us."

The debate came days after the Welsh government announced it would seek powers to hold an independence referendum, although ministers have ruled out staging one before the next Senedd election in May 2030.