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Leanne Wood outlined a vision of an open, tolerant, welcoming Wales that respected and valued migrants as she spoke to the Plaid Cymru conference.

The party leader fired the opening shot ahead of May’s council elections with a keynote speech that pledged to fight for the best deal on Brexit and to defend the migrant workers on whom the NHS in Wales depends.

She won applause at the Riverfront Centre in Newport as she offered a reassuring message to migrants, saying that anyone who lives in Wales and wants to be Welsh should be treated as such.

Ms Wood added: “Everyone who belongs to Wales should be treated with respect.

“If you live here and you want to be Welsh then as far as we are concerned, you are Welsh and your rights will be defended by the Party of Wales.”

Ms Wood said Plaid Cymru will draw up their own Brexit contingency plans, despite having already have signed up to a joint White Paper with the Welsh Government, in order to protect the interests of Wales.

Speaking on the first day of the two-day spring conference, Ms Wood said: “In the Welsh NHS you are more likely to be treated by a migrant than to see one in the queue.

(Image: South Wales Echo)

“We cannot and will not support any deal which makes it harder to recruit the skilled workers we need.

“And I reiterate to those people who want to come to Wales to work as doctors, as nurses, as engineers, you are welcome here.

“To all those people who have moved here from overseas. The Party of Wales will never join in with calls from those who make you feel you don’t deserve to be here.

“We will speak out for you when your rights are infringed at home or abroad.”

Almost five years since she took over as leader of the party, Wood hinted at what could happen if the Prime Minister Theresa May and her government reject Wales’ stance.

Membership of the EU’s Single Market is the priority for Welsh economy, Ms Wood told the conference, and that membership is about more than trade.

The Rhondda AM said: “It’s fair to ask what happens when the Prime Minister and her Brexit team reject the Welsh position.

“When they confirm a hard Brexit which doesn’t prioritise our membership of the Single Market.

“Signing up to the joint White Paper with the Welsh Government doesn’t preclude us from developing our own proposals and it doesn’t mean we are tied down to any party.

“We will produce our own contingency plans. I’m not going to show our cards too early.”

(Image: South Wales Echo)

Speaking about the Single Market, she said: “Being in the European Single Market is not just about trade. It means setting the bar high, not lowering it, when it comes to workers rights, consumers rights, and protecting the environment.”

Voters will head to the ballot box in local elections on May 4, in a key test of the electorates view on the major parties following a vote to leave the EU in June 2016.

Ms Wood said Plaid Cymru would address inequality across Wales driven by the Conservative UK government and the Welsh Government.

Wood said: “There is no doubt that we live in an unbalanced Wales. An unequal Wales.

“At Westminster under the Tories wealth and opportunity is being redistributed the wrong way - Robin Hood in reverse.

“And the same is happening in Wales. The Labour government is recreating the problem here, where there is an overheated centre at the expense of everywhere else.”

The leader also voiced support for Swansea-born teacher Juhel Miah, who was refused entry to the US while on a school trip, and promised to work with him to resolve the issue.

Wood said: “[Juhel Miah] was thrown off a plane when US officials denied him the right to visit the country on a school trip.

“He has been given no reason, and no explanation. But I think I know the reason.

“They think there’s something wrong with his surname. It sounds too Bangladeshi. It sounds too Muslim.

“Juhel Miah wrote to me after the incident. He said that he believed Plaid Cymru would support him, and we will.

“I will be working with him until we get an explanation. That’s the very least he can expect.”

(Image: Richard Williams)

She also criticised the “nostalgic British nationalism of UKIP” and said that voters disillusioned with the Conservatives and Labour have only Plaid Cymru and UKIP to chose from.

Wood said: “Friends, there are, at present, other threats to our nationhood.

“UKIP has a presence in our National Assembly, on the back of peoples grievances.”

The leader of the party said that Plaid offered “outward-looking” and “welcoming” nationalism and criticised UKIP calling them “Inward-looking” and “isolationist”.

In her closing remarks Wood said: “And to all of the people who make up this wonderful nation of ours. I say this.

“We don’t have to keep accepting second best. We don’t have to put up with neglect, with the same political parties who have let people down time after time.

“We don’t have to put up with dirty streets, with downgraded services, with our young people struggling to find opportunities.

“This is an opportunity for your community. And for your country. Don’t let Wales be ignored. Send that message that we exist, and that we matter.

“Stand up for your interests, and for your own control, just like the Chartists did here all those years ago.

“Give your backing to Plaid Cymru, and join with us as we put in place the building blocks of a successful, more equal, and outward-looking Wales. Building a strong nation starts in your street. Building the new Wales starts with us, with you.”