FM to lobby Chancellor over rail funding for Wales
Eluned Morgan says she's raised the issue with the Chancellor Rachel Reeves after the pair held talks at Labour's party conference
Last updated 27th Sep 2024
Wales has been "short-changed" when it comes to funding for railways, the First Minister said, as she pledged to beat a path to the Chancellor's door.
Eluned Morgan said she had discussed consequential funding for the HS2 project with Rachel Reeves during the Labour Party conference in Liverpool, adding that the Chancellor was in "listening mode".
The HS2 project has caused tensions in Wales since it was first announced, largely due to the fact it was designated an England and Wales project despite the scheme not including any Welsh territory.
Plaid Cymru has called for Wales to receive £4 billion in consequential funding, in line with the proportional funding that both Scotland and Northern Ireland received as a result of the project.
Ms Morgan told the PA news agency: "Well it's definitely an issue that we haven't given up on, an issue that I raised with the Chancellor.
"I think it is important for there to be recognition that when it comes to rail infrastructure we do feel that Wales has been short-changed, and it'll be interesting to see how that conversation develops.
"But already the UK Government has made massive commitments to better infrastructure, rail developments in particular, in North Wales. So again, that's UK Labour helping out directly, in a way that didn't happen under the Tories."
Asked whether the Chancellor was receptive to boosting funding for rail infrastructure in Wales, Ms Morgan replied: "I think we're all in talking and listening mode at the moment.
"She's got some tough decisions to make, she has to balance the books at a time where she has been left with a £22 billion black hole.
"So there's lots of people beating a path to her door, and I as First Minister will do that as well."
Earlier this month, Plaid Cymru's leader Rhun ap Iorwerth called on the First Minister to ask Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to introduce a new model to calculate funding to replace the Barnett formula.
Ms Morgan said she is "having conversations" on how Wales is funded, adding that "a fair funding system" is essential and the ability to borrow money would be "helpful" to the Welsh Government.
With Senedd elections set to take place in 2026, Ms Morgan was asked whether she was concerned about Reform UK's popularity in Wales.
She said: "We are going to take the next Senedd elections very seriously, we're already starting to prepare for that, it's going to be a very different election because it's going to be based on a proportional representation system, which does shift the way that people will be elected and yes, we're concerned not just with Reform but all the other parties."
She added: "I've been on a listening exercise throughout the summer, across the whole of Wales, listening to the people - raw, unfiltered - to hear what are the things that matter to them.
"I brought that back into the centre of Government and set up four priorities that we're going to focus on, the people's priorities, which means that we are entirely in line with what they want and I hope that will help us to win the trust and retain the trust of people in Wales."
Ms Morgan, who was appointed Wales's leader last month, said the schemes Labour has successfully introduced are often "taken for granted".
She said: "We give free medicines to people in Wales, and free car parking when people go to hospitals, free bus passes for the over-60s.
"All of these things, people take for granted but it's really important we remind people what a difference Labour makes to their lives."
On the Welsh Government's plans to reach one million Welsh language speakers by 2050, Ms Morgan said being "non-judgmental about the quality and standard of someone's Welsh is really, really important".
Ms Morgan, who grew up in Ely, Cardiff, said that "almost everyone" she knows who went to a Welsh language school feels that "unless you mutate correctly, speak in a very appropriate way" it is not good enough.
"I think we need to make sure that we are giving licence to people to just have a go, and any kind of attempt is a good attempt, and to back and support that," she added.
A Westminster Government spokesperson said: "The new government is committed to resetting relationships with the devolved governments and will work closely with them on rail in Wales.
"The UK Government is responsible for heavy rail infrastructure across England and Wales, improving transport connectivity and services for people. That means the UK Government spends money on this in Wales rather than funding the Welsh Government to do so."