Welsh Lib Dem leader presses case for new Brexit poll

here must be a new referendum on any Brexit deal, the leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats has insisted.

Jane Dodds said: "Brexiteers and Remainers will not have voted for what's being put to Parliament, the people must be given the final say."

Ms Dodds also said Wales has the expertise to be the "green energy technology hub" for the whole UK.

She was speaking ahead of the party's spring conference, which got underway in Cardiff on Saturday.

Ms Dodds became party leader in 2017 - taking over from former Ceredigion MP Mark Williams.

The party's only AM - Welsh Government Education Minister, Kirsty Williams - will also be speaking at the conference to announce an additional £3.4m to extend the Pupil Development Grant.

The grant helps families cover the costs of school uniforms and sports kits, as well as equipment for activities outside of school.

Eligible families of year seven pupils will receive £200, instead of the current £125.

She said: "Breaking the cycle of poverty and disadvantage is paramount, and at the heart of our national mission to raise standards for all our learners.

"The additional money announced today will mean that more learners will be eligible for funding, and more money will be available for parents of children transitioning from primary to secondary, which as we all know can be an expensive time"

The Lib Dems finished fifth in Thursday's Newport West Parliamentary by-election.

It was the former Lib Dem leader, Tim Farron who compared his party to cockroaches after a nuclear war, implying that however bad things get, the party always finds a way to survive.

That's always been true in the past of the Welsh Liberal Democrats and their predecessor parties who've been reduced to just one MP in Westminster on numerous occasions.

2017 though was the first election since the party was formed in 1859 when no representatives at all were returned to Westminster.

It's once formidable presence in local government has all but disappeared and the party's one representative in Cardiff Bay acts more or less in lockstep with Labour in return for a seat at the cabinet table.

Recovery isn't impossible, particularly in these febrile times.

However, there's precious little sign of it at the moment and the party's distinctive pro-European credentials don't appear to have attracted swathes of Remainers as they had hoped.

For now, the activists have little choice but to plod on, hoping that collapse of UKIP might open up some of the regional list seats in the 2021 assembly election.

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