Labour treating Wales even worse than the Tories on rail funding – Plaid Cymru

Plaid Cymru has slammed the UK Government for the ‘cynical manipulation’ of the Welsh transport funding formula following its first Budget on Wednesday.

Liz Saville Roberts, the Party’s Westminster made the accusation as Treasury documents revealed that the proportion of funding allocated to Wales arising from transport funding in England is further decreasing under Labour.

Rachel Reeves’ Budget included announcements for English rail projects including an upgrade of the TransPennine Route, an Oxford-Cambridge line, and the HS2 extension from Old Oak Common to London Euston.

However, the Chancellor made no announcements regarding Welsh rail investment. Ms Saville Roberts said that Labour was “hitting the brakes on Welsh rail while England speeds ahead”.

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The Barnett formula

While the governments of Scotland and Northern Ireland each receive transport funding based on a 95.6% comparability factor under the Barnett formula, Wales’ comparability factor for transport has shrunk drastically – from 80.9% in 2015 to 36.6% in 2021, and now to 33.5% in 2024.

The spiralling costs on the HS2 project, designated as an England and Wales scheme, is largely to blame for change, which has results in additional funding for Scotland and Northern Ireland, but not Wales.

Ms Saville Roberts also took aim at the Welsh Secretary, Jo Stevens, highlighting comments she made in 2022, as the then-Shadow Secretary of State for Wales.

Ms Stevens described the classification of HS2 as an “England and Wales” project as “utterly illogical”, comparing it with London’s Crossrail project, which did lead to additional funding for Wales.

However, as Secretary of State, Ms Stevens has failed to support calls, including from the Welsh Government, to correct the Treasury’s formula, which details the worsening situation.

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'Short changing Wales'

Ms Saville Roberts said: “Labour has gone from criticising the Tories for short-changing Wales on rail funding in 2022 to actively make the situation worse in 2024. Under Rachel Reeves, the Treasury's cynical manipulation of the funding formula has further deteriorated.

“The decrease in the share of rail funding going to Wales is due to the ever-increasing cost of England’s HS2, which rightly leads to extra cash for Scotland and Northern Ireland, but not to Wales. When Jo Stevens, the Secretary of State for Wales, was in opposition, she described the situation as ‘utterly illogical.’ Yet, Labour is using the very same illogical tactic to deprive Wales of funding. It smacks of hypocrisy.

“Despite ample opportunities to rectify this injustice, the Labour government has chosen to ignore Welsh rail in this Budget. Labour is hitting the brakes on Welsh rail while England speeds ahead, further eroding the Welsh rail funding settlement. Despite promising change, it is clear that Labour is just as indifferent to our needs as their predecessors.”