Labour backbenchers wrote to the Prime Minister accusing him of rolling back on devolution and MSs from across the chamber agreed
Wales’ deputy First Minister has said the Welsh Government disagrees with how the UK Government decided to spend money in Wales – after his own party’s backbenchers wrote to the Prime Minister accusing him of rolling back on devolution.
The letter, signed by more than a third of MSs representing Labour in the Senedd, said the UK Government is not only failing to deliver on promises to hand more powers to Wales but is “rolling back” on what is already devolved.
The letter reads: “In opposition we raised expectations of reform of the Barnett formula, devolution of rail infrastructure, policing and justice, and of the Crown Estate. Not only is the government not progressing these but it is rolling back the existing devolution settlement.” For our free daily briefing on the biggest issues facing the nation sign up to the Wales Matters newsletter here.
Their letter says the recent announcement of a Pride in Place programme has “caused considerable unhappiness”.
The scheme will see money handed out to communities to improve services in their local area, but that would be decided by a variety of local groups. The letter said funding is being “imposed” on Wales when “regeneration is a devolved matter” and should therefore be decided by the Welsh Government only.
In the Senedd, Plaid Cymru put forward a debate about the letter and said that the party “believes that the Labour UK Government is rolling back on the existing devolution settlement, as stated in the letter”. The motion was voted down, including by some of those who signed the letter to Keir Starmer.
During the debate, while Plaid Cymru and Conservative MSs criticised the Labour Party, Labour figures too raised concerns, including the deputy First Minister.
Labour’s deputy First Minister, Huw Irranca-Davies admitted the government “objected” to the way the funding was allocated but said it was just a fraction funding being given by the UK Government to Wales.
“We have objected to the use of the approach that the UK Government have taken for the Pride in Place schemes, which is £83m. But we have secured, through our negotiation with the UK Government, Jenny, £547m in the local growth fund, the decisions on which are being made here in Wales, and that has been secured by our negotiation here by Welsh ministers,” he said.
The First Minister Eluned Morgan had already admitted she and Keir Starmer didn’t agree on everything but her deputy went further.
Fellow Labour politicians also spoke up. Blaenau Gwent Labour MS Alun Davies said: “It is not fair that Wales is treated the way it is, and it is not fair that Welsh Ministers are humiliated—and we saw it this afternoon—having to run to catch up because they don’t know what’s being said from London.
“It’s not fair that Welsh Ministers need to try to explain that rail funding is fair when it’s self-evidently not, that Barnett is fair when it is self-evidently not.
“That is not fair. It is not fair for this Government, it is not fair for this Parliament, but more importantly it is not fair for our people. So, we will campaign for equality over the coming months. We will campaign for the equality of people, as we’ve done in the Labour movement through our history.
“We will campaign for the equality of our communities because Labour believes in every community in this country, and then we will campaign for equality within the United Kingdom for Wales because Welsh Labour believes in Wales.”
Llanelli MP Lee Waters, who also signed the letter said: “It is right that this Parliament pushes back when the devolution settlement is infringed—it’s not just a matter for the Welsh Government, it’s a matter for this Parliament. There is a strong consensus, certainly on this side of the Parliament and certainly within my party, that devolution should be respected and it should be strengthened. It’s not a view that’s shared unanimously across the Labour Party.
“There is disagreement. There’s nothing wrong in disagreement. The whole point of devolution was to give a reflection of that disagreement, not to get rid of the disagreement, but to allow that to be arbitrated, debated and dealt with and that’s what will happen.
“I think in the letter there was an important line in the sand for us to say that we are not happy with it and we will not accept it quietly, and we want to push back against it. We stand united in that. As inconvenient as that is to many in our party, that’s the position of principle that we take and we stand by.”
Plaid Cymru’s Sioned Williams said the UK Government was “actively trampling over our hard-won devolution settlement”.
She said: “But since the general election, this apathy has translated into something much more hostile. Because what we’re seeing is not just a Government that’s firmly putting the brakes on devolution; this is a government that is actively trampling over our hard-won devolution settlement, with as much contempt as their predecessors.
“This stands in stark contrast to their attitude to devolution in England, the likes of Cumbria, Cheshire, Essex, Hampshire, East Anglia and Sussex have been placed on a fast track for devolution, while Wales is left behind.
“And now, finally, the Labour backbenchers themselves are waking up to this inescapable reality. We commend Mick, Hannah, Alun, John, Lesley, Julie, Jenny, Rhianon, Carolyn, Mike and Lee for calling out their UK leadership. They are right to say that had these actions been committed by a Conservative UK Government, there would have been howls of outrage from their frontbenches.
“With Labour seemingly unable to kick its perennial habit of demoting devolution in favour of deference to Starmer, the cracks that are already showing in formerly impregnable strongholds such as Caerphilly are destined to grow, and another poll shows that clearly,” she said.
Lib Dem Jane Dodds said that more than a year into Labour’s rule in Westminster, a “pinch point” had been reached.
“We’ve got the letter by a third of Labour Senedd Members. I would like to pay tribute to you and to your courage for going out there and being clear on what many of us feel. We’ve seen, secondly, the very insulting statement of Jo Stevens that she only communicates in English and we still see the non-delivery of the consequentials we are entitled to and the non-devolution—and that’s what I really mean, the non-devolution—of HS2, the Crown Estate, police and criminal justice, probation.
“We have absolutely no timeline for those important issues to be devolved to us here in Wales, despite many requests, and we are running out of road.”
