THE renaming of the Second Severn Crossing as The Prince of Wales Bridge amounts to an attempt to “recolonise” Wales, a senior Plaid Cymru AM has claimed.

The announcement earlier this month by Welsh secretary Alun Cairns was met with immediate backlash, with a petition calling for the plan to be scrapped signed by more than 36,000 people. Anger was fuelled when it was revealed first minister Carwyn Jones had known about the plan since September last year and had not raised an objection.

Speaking in the Senedd this week, Plaid Cymru’s Adam Price said the proposal demonstrated that Mr Cairns “sees south east Wales as a suburb of Bristol”.

“It's part of a deliberate attempt to reintegrate Wales into some kind of nostalgic notion of a Britain that probably never existed,” he said. “It's a recolonisation effort.

“That's why it's touched a nerve, because it doesn't actually resonate with Wales as it is today, let alone the Wales that we want to build in the future.”

He also called on the Welsh Government to appeal to Westminster to “think again” about the plan.

But economy and transport secretary Ken Skates replied: “No, we won't ask the UK Government to think again.”

Saying is was “absolutely right” the Prince of Wales was honoured in this way, Mr Skates added the plan was something “many, many people in Wales will support”.

The issue was raised by Independent South Wales Central AM Neil McEvoy, who said he was particularly disappointed there had been no consultation into the proposal.

Addressing Mr Skates, he said: “I thought the idea of a National Assembly in Wales was to build a modern democracy. So why did you think it was a good idea to let Alun Cairns rename the bridge The Prince of Wales Bridge?

“Why did your government not object and inform the secretary of state that we would like the main gateway to our country to be named after somebody from Wales who has really achieved something for our country?”

But Mr Skates replied: “I'm more concerned with the removal of the tolls over that bridge to ease traffic flow rather than with the naming of the actual bridge.

“And, although I believe that the bridge has been named in honour of and in recognition of the current Prince of Wales, His Royal Highness Prince Charles, I see no reason why it can't be celebrated as a memorial to all princes of Wales in the past too.”

And Conservative AM Russell George backed the plan, calling it “a fitting tribute”.

“It's far more important to the Welsh people that we ensure that the Severn crossings continue to be a symbol of Wales's strong economic contribution to the United Kingdom,” he said. “We should be championing the abolition of the tolls on the Severn bridge, which, of course, will be a huge boost to the Welsh economy, rather than focussing on the relatively minor issue of renaming the bridge.”

The bridge will be officially renamed at a ceremony later this year attended by Prince Charles, marking his 70th birthday and the 60th anniversary of his appointment as Prince of Wales.