PLAID Cymru’s Jonathan Edwards MP has called on Wales to have the same powers as Scotland after the publication of the Smith Commission on further devolution for Scotland.

Mr Edwards believes that all Westminster parties must now join Plaid Cymru in ensuring Wales gets the same powers.

“Plaid Cymru believes Wales is as much of a nation as Scotland, and powers made available to Scotland should also be made available to Wales.

“We warned during the passage of the Wales Bill it would be superseded by events in Scotland, and that has been proved by the proposals of the Smith Commission.

“The challenge is now for the Welsh branches of the London parties to explain, if these powers are good enough for Scotland why aren’t they good enough for Wales?”

He added: “In addition to parity of powers, this must mean parity of resources. With Barnett now enshrined as the preferred formula for allocating resources to devolved administrations, the £1.2 billion funding gap between Wales and Scotland must be addressed.

“With English votes for English laws on the horizon before Christmas, there needs to be a symmetrical constitutional settlement for the devolved parliaments to avoid the creation of multi-tier MPs.

“Successive UK governments have dealt with constitutional issues on a haphazard basis. There needs to be a comprehensive settlement which fully empowers the devolved parliaments on an equal basis.”