Constitution 'no longer fit for purpose': Labour taskforce meets in Cardiff

The UK constitution is "no longer fit for purpose", Labour leaders warned, as the party prepared to convene its new devolution taskforce in Cardiff.

The group, which is being set up by Labour to examine how best to redistribute powers across the UK, will meet for the first time on the day that the Prime Minister formally triggers Brexit and less than 24 hours after the Scottish Parliament voted in favour of a second independence referendum.

First Minister Carwyn Jones will host the first meeting in Cardiff, with shadow Welsh secretary Christina Rees, shadow devolution minister Jim McMahon taking part alongside Andy Burnham, Steve Rotheram and Sion Simon, Labour's mayoral candidates for Greater Manchester, the Liverpool City region and the West Midlands, London deputy mayor Jules Pipe and Newcastle Council leader Nick Forbes.

The new taskforce will form the basis for Labour's plans to set up a constitutional convention, to look at how to take forward its proposals for a federal UK.