The United Kingdom “is over” and a new union should be crafted to reflect a “voluntary association of four nations”, Wales’ First Minister has said.

Mark Drakeford warned the break-up of the UK was possible if politicians only offered a “tweaking of the status quo”, and said Boris Johnson’s lack of engagement with the devolved nations undermined efforts to keep them together.

His virtual appearance at the Welsh Affairs Committee today was broadcast from an outbuilding at the bottom of his garden in Cardiff, where he was said to be self-isolating “as a precaution” after coming into contact with someone who had tested positive for coronavirus.

Mr Drakeford told MPs a new devolution settlement was needed after the pandemic had caused a rise in polarised opinions about Wales’ future, including support for Welsh independence as well as for abolishing devolution.

He said: “I do think the effect of the pandemic and the last 12 months has been to polarise opinion in Wales about the way it should be governed.

“What we have to do – to quote a Conservative member of the Senedd, David Melding – is we have to recognise that the union as it is, is over. We have to create a new union.

“We have to demonstrate to people how we can recraft the UK in a way that recognises it as a voluntary association of four nations, in which we choose to pool our sovereignty for common purposes and for common benefits.”

Mr Drakeford said the “relatively random basis” on which the UK Government engages with the devolved Welsh, Scottish and Northern Ireland administrations “is not a satisfactory basis to sustain the future of the United Kingdom”.

“There is no institutional architecture to make the United Kingdom work,” he said.

“It is all ad-hoc, random, and made up as we go along. And I’m afraid that really is not a satisfactory basis to sustain the future of the UK.

“And if I have an anxiety about the lack of regular engagement between the Prime Minister and other parts of the UK, it is more that I think without that then the security of the future of the UK becomes more difficult.

“Without the Prime Minster playing his part in all of that, I think it undermines the efforts of those of us – and I include myself certainly in this – who want to craft a successful future for the UK.”

Mr Drakeford called for “an entrenched form of devolution which cannot be unilaterally rolled back by any one party”, and one that “could not be interfered with in the way we have seen so vividly in recent months”.

The SNP's Shadow Wales Secretary Richard Thomson MP said Mr Drakeford's comments showed the UK government's "disdain" for devolution.

He said: "The blistering remarks from the Welsh First Minister highlights the Tory government's utter disdain for devolution. The simple fact is that the Westminster Tory government is responsible for completely undermining devolution and the union it claims to be in support of.

"The Tories' so-called levelling up fund is a Trojan Horse attempt to bypass devolution, ignore the devolved governments, and to instead dictate funding over devolved areas as it sees fit.

"Any funding for Scotland should be passed to the Scottish Government to administer on behalf of the people of Scotland."