Plaid Cymru: ‘Westminster treats us as a threat – and that’s a badge of honour’

From being treated as a ‘regional quirk’, Westminster now treats Plaid Cymru as a ‘threat’ – Liz Saville Roberts MP

Speaking at Plaid Cymru’s Spring Conference in Newport, Plaid Cymru Westminster Leader Liz Saville Roberts MP said UK Labour now views her party as a political threat, describing the shift in Westminster’s attitude as proof that Plaid Cymru is successfully standing up for Wales.

Ms Saville Roberts said that after more than a decade in Westminster she had witnessed how successive governments had “put Wales in a box”. However, she argued that the political dynamic had changed in the last year.

She pointed to repeated attacks from the Secretary of State for Wales, Jo Stevens, who has used “tired old clichéd attacks on Plaid Cymru as ‘separatists'” as evidence that Labour recognises the party’s growing influence, and telling Ms Stevens to “bring it on”.

The Plaid Cymru MP highlighted her declaration as the official Welsh opposition in Westminster following the 2024 general election, a move she described as “bold, possibly shameless – but events have proven us correct”. In 2025, she noted, the most active newly elected Welsh MPs were Plaid Cymru’s Ann Davies and Llinos Medi “by a country mile”.

She noted Plaid Cymru’s International Affairs spokesperson, Ben Lake, is meeting diplomats in London to ensure the world knows that “the next Welsh Government will be the most internationally-minded in our history”.

In her speech she informed delegates that diplomats from the European Union, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, and Ireland attended the conference, reflecting rising global interest in Wales. Ms Saville Roberts drew on a recent delegation visit to Greenland, reiterating her party’s defence of international law as “the protection that stands between self-determination and coercion by strongmen politicians”.

She said that only Plaid Cymru could stop Trumpian politics of “bullying and intimidation” from taking root in Wales, and urged party members to campaign hard to ensure that Plaid Cymru is the largest party in May.

Speaking in Newport, Liz Saville Roberts MP said:

“I have had the honour of serving as a Plaid Cymru MP for over a decade. Over that time, I have observed how Westminster puts Wales in a box ,and how its governments view Plaid Cymru.

“In the last year, something has shifted. The Westminster establishment no longer sees Plaid Cymru as a quaint, regional quirk of local politics, country mice who’ve landed in the big city. We are a threat.

“When the Secretary of State for Wales, Jo Stevens, rolls out the same tired old clichéd attacks on Plaid Cymru as ‘separatists’. I say: bring it on. We are doing something right.

“We have earned that position as a threat. It’s a badge of honour. We’ve worked hard at being the wasp that goads the short-tempered bulldog. After the 2024 general election, we declared ourselves the official Welsh opposition in Westminster.

“That was bold, possibly shameless, but events have proven us correct.

“In 2025, the most active newly elected Welsh MPs were Ann Davies and Llinos Medi, by a country mile.

“We have set the agenda. We have spoken with clarity. People have noticed. And so has the world.

“International diplomats are more interested in Wales than ever.

“Representatives from the embassies of the European Union, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland and Ireland have attended our conference here this weekend.

“More than ever before, the world wants to understand what is unfolding in Wales. As Plaid Cymru MPs, Westminster is not our natural habitat.

“The SNP MP Winnie Ewing once said: ‘We are not in Westminster to settle down, but to settle up.’ That is just as true for us.

“But one advantage of being in Westminster is proximity, networking, contacts. You can catch people’s ears when they can’t get away from you.

“Our team in Westminster – led by Ben Lake as our International Affairs spokesperson – is ensuring that those we meet know our name and the name of our nation. That they know what Plaid Cymru stands for and what Wales can do for the world.

“When we meet international representatives in London, we tell them clearly: the next Welsh Government will be the most internationally-minded in our history.

“A government that builds relationships with purpose. A government that understands influence is earned. A government that will work with others to undo the curses of Brexit. A government that will speak up when principle is at stake without waiting for permission from a UK Prime Minister.”

She continued:

“Wales must speak with clarity and confidence. We cannot wait for Westminster’s go-ahead to defend our principles.

“The threat of strong-arm politics is at our door, the politics of bullying and intimidation, where might is right and rule of law is trampled underfoot precisely because it is often the only shelter standing between the weak and the vulnerable and those who would profit from oppressing them.

“Nigel Farage has been a vocal cheerleader for Donald Trump for years.

“Before that, he described Vladimir Putin as the politician he most admired.

“Nigel Farage wants to copy and paste Trump’s playbook in Wales, from spreading misinformation about the ‘nation of sanctuary’ policy to attacking Welsh universities.

“He does not understand our communities.

“In May, only Plaid Cymru can defeat the politics of bullying and intimidation. Hatred must not be allowed to take root here. Those two words: ‘nation’ and ‘sanctuary’, these are the words of humanity. We are proud that Wales is a Nation of Sanctuary.

“We can and must stop Reform. Because of who we are, and because of what Wales, our communities, our values mean to us. This is existential.”