Starmer needs to act to stop separatists running Wales, first minister says

Welsh first minister Eluned Morgan says Sir Keir Starmer’s UK government should help stop pro-independence parties winning the next Senedd election by giving her country more powers.

Morgan warned that the “threat to the United Kingdom will become real” if parties wanting to leave the union were leading in both Scotland and Wales.

She said a recent opinion poll, which suggested Plaid Cymru and the Greens could win a combined 50% of the vote, showed “separatism is now on the agenda”. Both parties believe Wales should be an independent state.

The UK government said it had “delivered its largest-ever budget settlement of more than £22 billion a year” to the Welsh government.

On Thursday, Morgan also expressed concern that Welsh voters would use the 7 May election to “send a message” to Sir Keir and reject Labour, and that he was only welcome to campaign in Wales if he brought “goodies” like investment project announcements.

Speaking to the Institute for Government earlier in the day, Morgan said the most recent opinion poll gave “two pro independence parties Plaid and the Greens a majority in Wales”.

“Separatism is now very much on the agenda in our nation,” she said.

She said the significance of that was “not reverberating as it should”.

“Support for independence tends to rise when politics feels stuck or uncertain, and it falls when people see devolution deliver.”

Devolution is the “best way to lower the temperature and raise trust”, she said.

“The UK government can play a leading role in helping us to resist separatism and the break up of the union. They can support us by giving us the tools to help improve life for the people in Wales.”

Following her speech, Morgan said the “threat to the United Kingdom will become real” if pro-independence parties came out top in Wales as well as in Scotland, where pro-independence SNP are hoping to return to government following May’s Holyrood election.

Plaid Cymru is vying for first place in the election. While it still supports independence, its leader Rhun ap Iorwerth has said he would not try to hold a referendum on the topic in a first term.

Following a recent opinion poll, Cardiff University estimated Plaid and the Greens combined could win a total of 56 seats – well over a majority needed to control the Welsh Parliament.

Plaid polled at 37%, Reform came second at 23%, the Greens at 13%, and Labour and the Tories in fourth place at 10% each, in the poll organised by YouGov for ITV.

In her speech Morgan made a list of requests for more powers and money from Westminster, as well as a “new deal for devolution” – the process that has seen more powers given to the Senedd and Welsh government over 27 years.

The requests included more powers over natural resources, the Crown Estate, and policing and justice, which have mostly been rejected by the UK government.

Saying she recognised transferring powers “can’t all be done at once”, she said there was an urgent need “to demonstrate progress that comes from a new respect for devolution and new respect for the Welsh government”.

Morgan also called for a new “Constitutional Reform Act” to legally require Westminster to seek approval from Wales’ parliament before bringing in laws on devolved matters like health and education.

And the Welsh Labour leader said there should be a “fair share formula” so Wales “automatically receives its rightful share of UK resources in critical areas like rail, justice, and research and development”.

Morgan later said Sir Keir would only be welcome to campaign with her if he brought along announcements like big investment projects, and expressed concern he could be the reason why Welsh voters reject her party sat the voting booths.

“He came recently to North Wales to announce one of the biggest investment projects that the country’s ever seen, the development of small modular reactors. If he comes with goodies like that, then fine, he’s welcome,” she told Matt Chorley on BBC Radio 5 Live.

She said she hoped voters not happy with the UK Labour leader “won’t use our Senedd elections to send a message”.

Pushed on whether she could say she was happy with Sir Keir’s leadership, she said: “I’m just not getting into that.”

It is not the first time Morgan has sought to stand-out from her colleagues in the UK government, having told an audience in Cardiff Bay’s Norwegian Church last April she would call out Westminster when “it gets it wrong for Wales”.

Plaid Cymru’s Heledd Fychan said it was “disingenuous” for Labour “to claim that they now champion devolution or Welsh interests.

“This was a speech rooted in desperation by a party that’s trying to stay relevant when the people of Wales are challenging them on their failure to deliver in government,” she said.

The Green Party’s Tessa Marshall said: “Despite all the talk, Welsh Labour haven’t won any progress on these issues from their London bosses. Now they’re scrambling for a headline on their way out of power.”

A Reform UK Wales spokesperson said: “The Labour Party has run out of steam here in Wales and is finally on its way out.”

Leader of the Welsh Conservatives in the Senedd, Darren Millar, accused the first minister of “constitutional navel gazing”.

“Appeasing Plaid Cymru’s salami-slice strategy toward independence is a mistake being pursued by both Labour and Reform in calling for more devolved powers,” he said.

A UK government spokesman said it is working with the Welsh government to “deliver the priorities of the people of Wales”.

They pointed to providing the Welsh government with its “largest-ever budget settlement of more than £22 billion a year”, changes made to the fiscal framework mean that will mean Wales has an extra £425m in new spending power in the coming years, and “generational direct investment” including new nuclear at Wylfa and £445m to Welsh rail.