Plaid Cymru to meet with SNP for future 'alliance'
Plaid Cymru leader Rhun ap Iorwerth will hold talks with John Swinney in Edinburgh on Thursday, with both men keen to work together to develop a "progressive alliance" between the two nations
Scotland's First Minister has vowed to work with Welsh nationalists to show their respective countries there is a "positive alternative to Westminster's despair and decline".
Plaid Cymru leader Rhun ap Iorwerth will hold talks with John Swinney in Edinburgh on Thursday, with both men keen to work together to develop a "progressive alliance" between their two nations.
"Genuine opportunity to show the power of progressive politics":
The Plaid Cymru leader - whose party scored a dramatic win in last week's Senedd by-election in Caerphilly - said they had a "genuine opportunity to show the power of progressive politics".
The meeting will also focus on efforts to tackle child poverty, with Plaid Cymru having already pledged it will pilot a version of the Scottish Child Payment if it forms the government in Wales after elections there next year.
Mr Swinney said both the SNP and Welsh nationalists in Plaid Cymru shared a vision of "a society in which we support people with the cost of living rather than leaving them to languish while the rich get richer".
With the two parties working together he said: "We can make clear that a better future is possible - and that comes with the fresh start of independence."
"Discuss our shared vision for the future of our nations":
Meanwhile, the Plaid Cymru leader said he was looking forward to meeting Mr Swinney to "discuss our shared vision for the future of our nations".
He added: "A Plaid Cymru government would be eager to adopt best practice from around the world when it comes to adopting policies to improve people's day-to-day lives and where better to start than with one of our closest allies in Scotland.
"The Scottish Child Payment is a radical and exciting policy which we are committed to introducing as a Welsh pilot should Plaid Cymru form the next government in May.
"Thanks to measures like this, Scotland is the only part of the UK where child poverty rates are set to drop in the coming years. I want that to be the case in Wales too."