SUNAK UNDER FIRE AS WALES WON’T GET ‘FAIR SHARE’ OF RAIL FUNDING

RISHI Sunak dodged calls for Wales to get a fair chunk of rail funding in what was described as the “great Welsh train robbery”.

The Prime Minister was challenged in the House of Commons last week by Plaid Cymru’s Westminster leader Liz Saville-roberts over the decision to class HS2 and Northern Powerhouse as an “England and Wales” project, despite not a centimetre of track to be laid in Wales.

This UK Government decision will likely cost Wales around £5bn of funding over the coming seven years.

The comment was delivered in Prime Minister’s Questions just hours before Plaid Cymru’s motion calling on the UK Government to redesignate HS2 as an England-only project, which was supported unanimously within the Senedd.

It was only a few hours before the motion that Ms Saville-roberts put to PM Sunak: “Incredibly, any traveller wanting to go by train from North to South Wales has to go via England.

“Linking Wales north to south would cost £2billion.

“Now the PM talks about running away with other people’s money, but his government is depriving Wales to the tune of £6bn by ruling that northsouth England rail links like HS2 somehow benefit Wales?

“Will he plead guilty to the great Welsh train robbery?”

There is no exact figure for what Wales would have received, but as it makes up roughly 5% of the UK population, the country would be entitled to roughly £5bn under the Barnett formula.

It would also have received £1bn equivalent funding from Northern Powerhouse Rail.

In response to Ms Saville-roberts, Mr Sunak declined to address the issue of reclassification and instead attacked the Welsh Government’s road-building policy.

He said: “As the honourable lady knows how transport matters are handled in Wales, what I would say to her is that we do always want to work cooperatively with the Welsh Government.

“We are actually investing record sums in communities up and down Wales through the Levelling Up fund and the community ownership fund and we are happy to continue those conversations, many of which are on transportation projects.

“Hopefully she will join me in saying what the people in Wales do not need is the Welsh Labour government’s plan to ban all building of new roads.”

Parties across the Senedd later approved a motion to call on the UK Government to redesignate the rail project.

Plaid Cymru’s Luke Fletcher introduced the motion, saying: “Wales has and continues to lose out on billions of pounds of necessary rail investment. It is politically, constitutionally, economically and environmentally unacceptable.”

He continued by saying it is “daylight robbery, staggering and completely undefendable” to classify the railway project, built only in England, as beneficial to Wales.

“Despite the consensus, neither Sunak nor Starmer have committed to giving Wales what we are owed after the next general election,” he said.

“I urge all of the Members of the Senedd from all parties who supported Plaid Cymru’s motion to urge their Westminster colleagues to commit to giving Wales its fair share.”

Though agreeing with the motion put forth by Plaid Cymru, the Welsh Conservatives could not resist a dig at the Welsh Government.

Welsh Conservative Natasha Asghar said: “Now, let me be clear: it’s the Welsh Conservative view that Wales should receive consequentials as a result of HS2.

“However, I must stress: we don’t want a single penny to go directly into the hands of this Labour Government.”

Labour MS Huw Irranca-davies added: “The big villain in this, I have to say, is the Treasury.

“The Treasury makes top-down decisions and says, ‘That’s the way it is.’ And yes, they’re instructed by No. 10, but they’re instructed by the Chancellor as well, and if the Chancellor decides HS2 funding is England-andwales spend, or that the Northern Powerhouse Rail is England-andwales spend, so be it.

“There’s no input here from Welsh Ministers whatsoever, or anybody else.”