Plaid Cymru: Welsh independence vote not needed from Ed Miliband for coalition

A Welsh independence referendum wouldn't be a top priority for Plaid Cymru in the event of a coalition government agreement with Labour, according to the party's Westminster leader.

Elfyn Llwyd's comments to IBTimes UK come as the opinion polls indicate that a hung parliament is on the cards after the general election, given the rise of Ukip in England and the Scottish National Party (SNP) north of the border.

But the Dwyfor Meirionnydd MP, one of three Plaid Cymru representatives in the House of Commons, said that Wales would have to catch up with the devolution seen in Scotland and Northern Ireland before it could consider a vote on independence.

"I don't think we're at a position where we need to be talking about a referendum in Wales at this stage. We have other things to do," he said.

"We are a considerably behind the way in which things have been devolved in Scotland and, to some degree, in Northern Ireland.

"If you ask me that question in ten or fifteen years, there would be a different answer. But at this stage, I don't think that's going to be something which is uppermost in our minds."

But Llwyd stressed that his party would push Labour for more devolution from Westminster to the Welsh assembly in the event of a hung parliament as well as a pledge to slow austerity measures "completely".

"It's something that would be number one on our agenda. We would also need to see a stop to the re-commissioning of trident, which would save £100bn ($153bn, €134bn) over the next 10 years," Llwyd said.

"A huge, dangerous and costly white elephant that's entirely unnecessary in this day and age, especially given that the UK is a member of Nato and Nato does have nuclear capability."

He added: "The other things which we feel very strongly about are further devolution. For example, justice and policing powers to Wales and also, crucially, the need for the reform of the Barnett formula to introduce a proper needs-based funding formula for Wales for the time being."

As for England, Llwyd and Plaid Cymru have urged voters to pick the Greens at the ballot box in May.

"They are a genuine left-of-centre party. They are anti-trident, they are anti-austerity and they seem to tick most of the boxes that we tick," he said.

"Why vote Labour? Because you can't put a cigarette between them and the Conservatives, and there's no radical alternative apart from the Greens."

Elsewhere, Llwyd admitted Plaid Cymru hadn't given the possibility of working with the Liberal Democrats "a great deal of thought".

"It isn't something we would necessarily rule out, but we would have to think carefully about it nearer the time," he said.

Llwyd made the remarks after the Westminster leader of the DUP said his party could "do business" with Ed Miliband or David Cameron after the general election.

But Nigel Dodds stressed that the DUP would judge what is in "the best interests for the UK as a whole".

"Unionism has worked in the past with Labour governments and we've worked in the past with Conservative governments back in the 70s," he told the New Statesman.

In addition, the former First Minister of Scotland Alex Salmond suggested that a Labour-SNP coalition government after May is a possibility.

He told IBTimes UK that he would push for an end to the renewal of the Trident nuclear defence system and champion a Living Wage across the UK.