Plaid Cymru manifesto: 11 key policies analysed

Calling for Cardiff politicians to take control of the police is the sort of policy you would expect from Plaid Cymru, which has backed devolution since the start and ultimately wants the country to run all of its own affairs.

In this election, it is potentially a wedge issue for Plaid, which will highlight the splits in Labour over whether the Senedd should have more powers. The Welsh government’s Labour ministers think policing and the wider criminal justice system should be devolved, but central Labour and many Welsh Labour MPs have rejected it.

Plaid say Wales is an “anomaly”, when Scotland and Northern Ireland’s governments have responsibility for the issue. In practice, its wider than just handing control over the police – it’s also about whether Wales should have its own system of criminal justice, including its own prison system.

Plaid say if the Senedd has control of policing and justice it could be better integrated into Wales’ systems of housing, health and education, some of which already provide services in prisons – where Plaid say Welsh policies could tackle overcrowding. Detractors in Labour argue that improvements to criminal justice are a priority, rather than constitutional tinkering.