Nationalist Alliance Issue Historic Ultimatum to UK PM

On September 14, 2026, the leaders of the UK's main nationalist parties met in Cardiff to sign a joint declaration stating that "Westminster's time is coming to an end".

The historic meeting brought together Scottish First Minister John Swinney (SNP), Welsh First Minister Rhun ap Iorwerth (Plaid Cymru), Sinn Féin President Mary Lou McDonald, and Northern Ireland First Minister Michelle O'Neill (Sinn Féin vice-president). The leaders attended as political party heads rather than official government representatives. 

Following the talks, John Swinney (right) boldly predicted that Andy Burnham would be the last prime minister of the United Kingdom. 

Swinney reiterated his goal to secure a second independence referendum within the next five years, ensuring Scots have a choice on their constitutional future before the current Holyrood term ends in 2031. 

While united in their belief that Westminster fails to serve their people, the three nationalist leaders are pursuing distinct regional strategies:

• Scotland (SNP): Seeking a binding independence referendum.  
• Wales (Plaid Cymru): Demanding expanded devolved powers as part of a fundamental redesign of the UK constitutional framework, declaring the current status quo untenable. 
• Northern Ireland (Sinn Féin): Calling for a border poll to achieve Irish reunification. 

Despite these coordinated demands, Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s government have firmly maintained that separation referendums remain "off limits". 

However, Michelle O'Neill insisted that constitutional change is still "very much on the table", brushing aside Downing Street's pushback.

Celtic suffered another European embarrassment as the Scottish champions were beaten 3-1 at home by Ferencváros in the Europa League. 

Just weeks on from crashing out of the Champions League qualifiers to Austrian side LASK, despite at one point holding a four-goal lead, Celtic’s defensive flaws were egregiously exposed once more. Already, Martin O’Neill’s team suffered a chastening 3-0 defeat to rivals Rangers last weekend and failed to deliver on their manager’s promise to respond.

Inevitably, the Hungarian champions took the lead in the 20th minute when an unfortunate deflection off Celtic defender Liam Scales trickled into the net. 

Martin O'Neill's side managed to pull level in the 44th minute through a well-taken open-play strike from Mika Baur, but their joy was short-lived. 

The away side punished them with a second goal in first-half stoppage time (45+1') before ruthlessly adding a third in the 47th minute. 

Though Martin O'Neill shuffled his tactical shape at halftime – switching to a 4-4-2 by bringing on record signing Kasper Høgh to partner Camilo Durán up front – it did little to unlock a comfortable Ferencváros defense. 

The manager later admitted his side was taught a harsh "European lesson", conceding that the defensive lapses were psychologically damaging. 

With pressure mounting heavily on the manager's tactical system, the Hoops must find answers immediately before hosting Rangers in a crucial Scottish Premiership rematch this Sunday. With everything on the line, I’m holding my breath to see if they can fix these strategic flaws in time, or if their rivals will exploit them once again.

To us Celtic fans it might seem like sacrilege to doubt Martin O'Neill's capacity to get them through whatever it is they're going through right now – a slump or something deeper – but keeping the faith is surely becoming testing.