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Labour's Mick Antoniw: Welsh independence 'possible' in my lifetime

Labour Mick AntoniwLabour
Mick Antoniw said the next couple of years "could determine" if Welsh independence happens

A Welsh Labour Assembly Member has said he believes an independent Wales is "possible" in his lifetime.

Pontypridd AM Mick Antoniw told BBC Radio Wales' Sunday Supplement the next couple of years "could determine whether or not that happens".

Labour First Minister Mark Drakeford recently pledged his commitment to the United Kingdom.

Mr Antoniw's comments came after thousands of people marched in a Welsh independence rally on Saturday.

Police confirmed at least 5,000 people had paraded though Caernarfon on Saturday, which Mr Antoniw described as an "enormous turn out".

Thousands of people packed into the Maes - Castle Square - for the independence rally in Caernarfon, Gwynedd.
Crowds filled the town's 'Maes' at Castle Square in Caernarfon

Earlier in July, Plaid Cymru's Adam Price had suggested Mr Drakeford was "indy-curious".

But the first minister said he did not think Welsh voters would support independence and his support for the union was "unambiguous".

When Mr Antoniw was asked if he was "indy-curious", he responded that he had "never had a problem with the issue of independence".

The AM added that "self-determination and de-centralization of power" had "always been at the core" of his politics.

He said Brexit had "exposed the fracture lines in the UK constitution" to the extent that "nobody can actually say what is the purpose of the UK".