Leanne Wood Quotes

I believe in equality. I think steps should be taken to reduce the imbalance we have in society, so I favour the redistribution of wealth for example. But what I do say is that the bar is quite low. What's considered to be radical politics today was seen as mainstream 20 years ago. Plaid Cymru is a left party and I would argue that the views that I hold reflect the views of the members of Plaid Cymru.

Plaid Cymru accepts the referendum result

If the prime minister wants to stay in so many EU institutions, why leave the single market which she admitted will put barriers in place over trade?

Leaving the EU would risk our hard-won gains including rights at the workplace, access for businesses to the single market and would diminish our contribution to global challenges such as climate change and conflict resolution.

Questions of immigration and the single market were not on the ballot paper at the EU referendum. I've been speaking to a number of key players in the Welsh economy and they're all telling me that tariffs and being outside the EU's regulatory regime would be damaging to them.

Brexit provides an opportunity for the nations to take more power and responsibility from the UK. The referendum result shows how Westminster rule has left many communities behind. It should in no way be interpreted as a vote to centralise more power in London. No self-respecting country should be timid or ashamed of governing itself. It's disheartening to see such a negative attitude from some in Welsh politics.

Do not forget what is at stake at this election. Do not forget all that will be put at risk if dangerous right-wing isolationist Europhobia is victorious. Our businesses rely on £5bn worth of trade with our EU partners every year. Our country has benefited from investment in our infrastructure and communities, with more on the horizon. More than one in 10 jobs are directly dependent on our membership of the EU - that's 150,000 reasons to vote Plaid Cymru in this May's election.

The challenge we all face now is ensuring that as we prepare to leave the EU we secure the best possible deal for Wales. Together, we intend to rise to that challenge.

We have to recognise the vote and people voted to leave. So what we do now is discuss the best kind of Brexit possible for Wales; the least worst option, if you like.

[Mr Davis was] left in no doubt over the importance of single market participation

First minister, last night you participated in the first major public debate on the future for Wales within the European Union. You went head-to-head with the voice of the far right. Do you think your performance helped or hindered the Welsh campaign on the EU?

Within Plaid Cymru, we have a strong internal democracy which reflects how much we rely on the party membership as a grassroots body. The side effect of this is that measures to promote women are not always at their strongest, but must be balanced out with local party control. Over the years we have also seen that this is true outside of Plaid Cymru as well, as tensions between local party democracy and central party machines have been apparent in other parties.

The EU is too important to be discarded

Nuclear power has been a difficult issue for Plaid Cymru. We are opposed to nuclear power but have been forced to weigh concerns against the need to attract well-paid jobs to our rural areas. These concerns have created a compromise position of not opposing the replacement of existing nuclear plants. This has pitched people with concerns about the language and environment against each other.

It is not possible in 2016 to simply pull up the drawbridge and retreat to an idyllic isolation. And even if it were, surely that isn't the kind of country we want Wales to be. [I want a] decentralised, partnership of equals as the basis for the new Europe.