Wales’ Labour first minister Eluned Morgan says she will ‘call out’ Starmer

Wales’ First Minister Eluned Morgan has said she will “call out” Labour in Westminster when it “gets it wrong for Wales”.

In a major speech the Welsh Labour leader said she will “not stay silent” if the UK government takes decisions “we think will harm Welsh communities”.

In reference to Gavin and Stacey, she said what is right for Essex may not be right for Barry, the town that it was filmed in.

She called for UK ministers to halt part of its plans to cut disability benefits, rethink cuts to the winter fuel allowance, and demanded Wales benefit more from wind power via the Crown Estate.

It comes after the Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, introduced changes to personal independence payments (PIP) and cuts to health-related universal credit during the Spring Statement.

Morgan told party members and politician: “It’s nation and the people of Wales before party for me.”

The Welsh Conservatives said it was a “last ditch, desperate attempt to save the Labour party’s bacon”.

Plaid Cymru said it was a “desperate attempt by a floundering first minister to reset her premiership”.

Reform, which is hoping to win its first seats in the Senedd next year, said Labour was “more focused on slogans than solutions”.

Speaking in Cardiff Bay, Morgan said she will not “hesitate to challenge from within, even when that means shaking things up”.

But using the analogy of the BBC sitcom, she said: “There will be times when what’s right for Essex is not right for Barry.

“Like Nessa and Smithy, there will be a bond, but there will also be issues.

“Where we disagree, we will say it, where we see unfairness, we will stand up for it.”

She insisted that what she was describing was not a “split” but was instead “grown up modern government” and patriotic.

Morgan used her speech to set out what she expects of the UK government.

She said the cuts in winter fuel payments was something that “comes up time and time again, and I hope the UK government will rethink this policy”.

Morgan called for Wales to benefit more from the Crown Estate, which is being used to build offshore wind projects off the coast of Wales.

She argued that Wales should have control over the land in the same way the Scottish government does, which receives revenues from the Crown Estate north of the border.

“We saw them take our coal, we saw them take our water. We will not let them take our wind, not this time, not on my watch,” she said.

Morgan called for a shake-up to how her government is funded, saying the Barnett formula which determines how Wales is funded “does not serve Wales well,” she said.

“It needs to be changed to reflect the needs of our country, not the numbers of people who live here.”

She made the case for Wales to be “at the front of the queue” for rail investment, calling the HS2 classification as an England and Welsh project an “almighty injustice”.

Morgan stopped short of calling for cuts to disability benefit to be axed in the speech.

In an interview with BBC Wales after the speech, Morgan said: “I want certain parts of them certainly to be scrapped.

“What we’d like to see is them following some to the models that have worked for us in Wales – rather than it be about cuts, it should be about leading people, holding their hands through a process.

“Cutting someone’s benefit is not going to push them into work.”

She added: “I certainly think PIP has to be rethought. That is a significant problem for many of our communities.”

About 275,000 people of working age in Wales claim PIP and 150,000 claim the health-related element of universal credit.

Morgan said disability cuts are likely to hit parts of Wales “six times more proportionally in some areas of Wales, compared to England”.

Morgan also used her speech to attack Reform UK and Plaid Cymru – two parties that Labour has been polling close to in recent months.

She said Reform “sow and reap grievance”, while Plaid Cymru “promise a lot, but they expect someone else to foot the bill”.

The rise of Reform and a split on the left meant that the “whole shape of the future of Wales” was at stake at the next election.

Morgan said the Welsh government’s “red Welsh Labour way” was working for the people of Wales, with free prescriptions, a cap on social care and high recycling rates.

She said: “I warn people in Wales, be careful not to take these things for granted.

“These are political choices that Welsh Labour has made and other parties can and will snatch them away from you.”

The speech took place at the Norwegian Church in Cardiff Bay, with a number of Labour Members of the Senedd, and Llanelli MP and Wales Office minister Nia Griffith, in attendance.

By Gareth Lewis, BBC Wales political editor

Labour’s pitch seems to be this as the Senedd election looms: Eluned Morgan will push much harder than she has before on a whole host of issues.

The argument goes that as a Labour first minister she is the only one who can be in the room with Keir Starmer – a first minister from another party would be shouting from the outside.

It comes with risk. If she shouts louder and still does not get what she wants, then how will that go down with voters?

It is a tricky balance – on the one hand she needs UK Labour for things like rail investment and Crown Estate, and on the other she wants to be distinct. It means the message might confuse some voters.

Opposition parties are not impressed and see this as a last ditch and ultimately futile attempt by Welsh Labour to cling on to their position as biggest party in the Senedd.