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WALES will soon get an independence vote, claims a Plaid Cymru MP, who argues Brexit is pushing the nation to break away from the UK. Welsh MP Jonathan Edwards will try to rally support for a Welsh referendum today, as he speaks to delegates at the second day of Plaid Cymru's autumn conference. He is expected to say the Brexit referendum “drove a sledgehammer through the post-devolution period” and has caused a shift towards Welsh independence. The comments come after Plaid Cymru’s party leader, Adam Price, said he believed a referendum on Welsh independence would be held by 2030. ...The...

Senior Tories rebuff Brexit party leader’s offer of no-deal election pact The Brexit party’s leader, Nigel Farage, has been heavily criticised by Boris Johnson’s team as “not fit and proper” in an outright rejection of his offer of a pre-election, no-deal Brexit pact. Farage offered to help the embattled prime minister secure a majority at a snap general election, on the proviso he dropped plans to renegotiate the Brexit withdrawal agreement and the backstop arrangement on the Northern Irish border. He said the prime minister should accept he needed the Brexit party’s help to take out key Labour seats but...

AN Irish EU chief has said the chances of a new Brexit deal are rising - as FIFTY Labour MPs say they are ready to back the PM. Phil Hogan said the “penny had dropped” after Boris Johnson suggested an “all-Ireland” farming market after our divorce from the bloc. Mr Hogan , an nominee for EU trade commissioner, told the Irish Times: “That is certainly a clear indication of divergence between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, the EU and the rest of the UK. “This is the first time that this has been spoken about by a British...

People filling in the national census are to be told officially that they can say their sex is different from the one on their birth certificate. The new guidance runs the risk of affecting vital data regarding the population the Government needs to plan for the future. The advice for England and Wales is set to come in from the next census, to be held in 2021. Transgender people will be told that when asked in the survey if they are ‘male’ or ‘female’ they can choose whichever option they feel best describes their sex. The advice will apply to...

The DUP’s Jim Wells has revealed a possible shift in his party’s position on a “Northern Ireland-only backstop” agreement. Should it become official DUP policy, Wells’s revelation would mean the DUP has effectively accepted the backstop agreement. This is something it said it would never do. His revelation came in a pre-recording of Stephen Nolan’s Top Table that goes out on BBC1 this evening, and in response to a statement from the host that “we would be living to EU rules, Jim”. Shocking This is particularly shocking as the DUP has consistently opposed the backstop and “’special status’ for Northern...

More than $4bn has been pulled from UK equity funds since Theresa May announced her decision to step down as Britain’s prime minister as fears mount that the UK is heading for a no-deal Brexit under her successor, Boris Johnson. Investors have withdrawn $4.2bn from UK equity funds since late May, according to EPFR, a data provider. Outflows since the Brexit referendum in 2016 have climbed to $29.7bn. Luke Ellis, chief executive of Man Group, the UK-listed hedge fund manager, said investors had put the UK into the “too hard to think about basket”. Neil Dwane, global strategist at Allianz Global...

Paris - It was a warm afternoon in March. David Breidenstein says he looked on as some of the more radical yellow vest protesters set fire to Le Fouquet's, not just a restaurant but a symbol of wealth and power in France. As the flames spread licking at the famous red awning, Breidenstein quickly turned on his feet hoping to distance himself from the blaze, fearful of getting caught up in the violence he says he wasn't fueling. A few seconds later he stopped, lit a cigarette, and as he looked back towards the riot police he felt the full...