Andy Burnham should back EU membership now, says Plaid Westminster leader

Plaid Cymru's leader in Westminster says Andy Burnham should back rejoining the EU now, and not delay his decision until the next general election.

The prime minister has said it is "possible" that a future Labour election manifesto could promise a new in-out referendum on the European Union.

Liz Saville Roberts said she would welcome any commitment by Burnham to reverse Brexit, claiming Wales would be better off in the political and economic bloc.

Wales voted to leave the EU in the Brexit referendum in 2016, in line with the UK result. The UK left in 2020.

At the end of September, Burnham said a referendum would not be the "right thing to do now" but the UK needed to "consider the options" for its relationship "where we are isn't good enough".

Plaid had been a part of the Welsh remain campaign in 2016.

Plaid is holding its first party conference since winning May's Senedd election, and forming its first ever Welsh government.

In a speech on Saturday, Saville Roberts said the party is "not afraid to be bold" in campaigning to return to the EU.

Speaking to BBC Wales, Saville Roberts said: "We are firmly in the belief since then that Wales has just lost out. We've lost out in terms of funding, we've lost out in terms of power.

"For small nations such as Wales, we are better served by being members of a larger union such as the EU."

The MP said: "Some of the things that are beginning to disappoint me a little bit with Andy Burnham is that much of this on the never never - its pushed down three years, if that's when he's saying the next general election is going to be."

She said she would "welcome" Burnham backing a return to the EU.

"To be waiting for three years on such a big matter as this, it's almost as though he's hedging his bets," she said

"This is a matter we need leadership over and greater clarity... The political message needs to be clear as to why we would be better off."

She said the conditions for rejoining also had to be discussed, "because otherwise the suppositions that those who are opposed to this can make can fill the vacuum otherwise left by a lack of leadership".

The Westminster leader added: "It's not my job here to second guess what Labour are going to do."

Separately, Plaid Cymru's Enterprise Minister Adam Price has promised that the Plaid Cymru government will create the economic conditions for another Welsh company to join the elite FTSE 100 share index within a decade.

There is currently only one company in the stock index with a headquarters in Wales - the Admiral Group.

The FTSE 100 represents the 100 largest companies in the UK which trade shares publicly.

Price set out targets for 500 "high growth firms" within 10 years. Plaid defines high-growth as "firms that experience a rapid expansion in revenue growth and employment".

Price, who led Plaid before Rhun ap Iorwerth, outlined plans for a programme called Sbardun - an "intensive" two-year programme to help an initial 20 Welsh firms "become medium-sized companies" with investment from the Development Bank of Wales.

He said that if the target of 500 high-growth firms was achieved, "we will create the conditions for an additional FTSE 100 company here in Wales".

The minister said: "Scale matters. We should want more Welsh firms to succeed, to grow and to compete on the world stage. But scale is a means, not an end - the end is good jobs everywhere.

"Because success is not measured simply by the number of companies that reach the summit. It is measured by whether people in every part of Wales can build a good life through good work.

"Our ambition is an economy deep enough, broad enough and rooted enough to create opportunity for all, generation after generation."

On Friday, First Minister Rhun ap Iorwerth spelt out his demands to Prime Minister Andy Burnham for more powers to be transferred to Cardiff.