WELSH nationalist party Plaid Cymru is demanding that Wales be given the same devolved powers as Scotland.

The party says that while Holyrood has powers to decide and implement policies on transport, the crown estate, justice and policing, energy, taxation and welfare, the Senedd does not.

Plaid Cymru leader Rhun ap Iorwerth and the party’s Westminster leader Liz Saville Roberts are to ask Westminster to introduce a Wales Bill “based on the premise of parity of powers with Scotland” when they meet Welsh Secretary Jo Stevens.

Mr ap Iorwerth said “Wales deserves its fair share” and that his party’s call for parity with Scotland is “about securing the powers needed to truly improve the lives of people who live here.”

They will also call for a new funding model for Wales based on the country’s needs, not its population.

Mr ap Iorwerth said: “Scotland has shown how these powers can be used to better serve the people.

“A devolved benefits system has shielded people in Scotland from some of the most brutal Westminster austerity, while the devolved Scottish Crown Estate directly invests in deprived coastal communities.

“If Scotland can do it, why not Wales?”

Ms Saville Roberts said it was time for the biggest ever transfer of powers out of Westminster.

“Only with greater powers can we create a fairer future for our communities,” she said.

Scotland and Wales were given different legislative powers through Westminster’s Scotland Act and Wales Act in 1998.

Their first devolved governments were elected in 1999.