ANDY Burnham's terms for an independence referendum in Scotland "must also apply to Wales", Plaid Cymru's Westminster leader has said.
The Prime Minister said during PMQs on Wednesday that the rules governing when a repeat of the 2014 vote in Scotland can be held should be “exactly the same” as those for an Irish reunification referendum.
The Good Friday Agreement states that the UK Northern Ireland Secretary “shall” call a referendum on Irish reunification if it looks likely that the people would vote in support.
Burnham's comments came as a surprise just weeks after he told First Minister John Swinney that a second vote in Scotland was "off limits".
In a visit to Belfast, the Prime Minister also told the media that a referendum on a united Ireland was "off the table" but later rolled back on this, saying he would abide by the Good Friday Agreement.
Swinney has since invited Burnham to meet to agree a "legal mechanism" which would trigger a second Scottish independence referendum.
Plaid Cymru MP Liz Saville Roberts has now told The National that the same rules should apply to Wales.
Wales voted in its first Plaid Cymru government in the Senedd earlier this year and previous polls have put support for Welsh independence as high as 41%.
Saville Roberts said: "I welcome the Prime Minister’s apparent recognition of the right to self-determination. That principle must apply equally to Wales.
“The people of Wales have given a clear mandate for more powers to come to Wales. That democratic mandate must be respected, with decisions about our nation’s future ultimately resting with the people of Wales.”
It comes after The National reported a special event looking at how the Celtic Alliance can help boost Scottish and Welsh independence efforts is taking place this weekend.
The event, which is being held on Saturday in Edinburgh, will explore the benefits of having nationalist administrations in all three devolved UK nations following the May elections.
Titled "Will the Celtic Alliance help Scottish independence and EU membership?", the event is set to explore the impact of the alliance on aspirations for Scottish and Welsh independence, Irish unification, and EU membership.
The Welsh Government is pushing for powers over policing and the Crown Estate, both of which have been devolved to Scotland for many years.
The Prime Minister has said he is open to devolving policing with the idea having been rejected in the past while he has said the Crown Estate demands will receive a "fair hearing".
Swinney said Burnham's admission the same rules should apply to Scotland as they do to Northern Ireland is "a long-overdue acceptance of the reality that the people of Scotland will decide their own future, not the UK Government", adding that it is "a clear endorsement of the fact that the UK must be a voluntary Union".
He added that Burnham's previous refusal to hold talks on a second Scottish independence referendum "was clearly unsustainable" given the recent Holyrood election results, which saw the SNP win a fifth term in office and a historic number of pro-independence MSPs elected to the Scottish Parliament.
