Burnham reshuffle ‘won’t change anything’ unless Labour MPs fight for Wales – Welsh Lib Dems

Nation.Cymru staff

The Welsh Liberal Democrats have said a Cabinet reshuffle will make little difference unless Welsh Labour MPs do more to stand up for Wales in government.

The party said Wales had enjoyed unprecedented representation in government under Sir Keir Starmer, with as many as 15 Welsh Labour MPs serving as ministers, whips and parliamentary private secretaries across Whitehall at one time.

Despite that, the Welsh Liberal Democrats claimed Wales had continued to miss out on major funding opportunities, pointing to the lack of HS2 consequential funding, lower levels of UK infrastructure investment, reduced replacement funding for former EU-backed communities and what they described as insufficient investment in research and development.

The party also argued that Welsh Labour MPs had failed to use their influence within government to secure a fairer funding settlement for Wales or to challenge decisions they believed disadvantaged the country.

Commenting, Welsh Liberal Democrat Westminster spokesperson David Chadwick MP said: “Andy Burnham can reshuffle as many titles as he likes, but Wales won’t see any real change unless Welsh Labour politicians finally start fighting Wales’ corner in government.

“The problem has never been a lack of Welsh Labour politicians in positions of influence. Under Keir Starmer, Wales has had more Labour MPs embedded within government than at almost any point in recent history. At times there have been 13 Welsh Labour MPs serving as ministers, whips and parliamentary aides.

“The problem is that they have acted as representatives of the UK Government in Wales, rather than representatives of Wales in the UK Government.”

Mr Chadwick questioned why Welsh Labour MPs had not mounted stronger opposition over issues including HS2 funding, replacement funding for former EU programmes and research and development investment.

He added: “If Labour wants to show Wales it’s changed, it needs more than a reshuffle; they need politicians who are prepared to fight Wales’ corner, challenge their own leadership when necessary and stop treating Westminster’s priorities as more important than Wales’ needs.

“Until that happens, changing job titles won’t change outcomes and the Welsh Liberal Democrats will continue to fight for a fair deal for Wales.”

---

Get more trusted Welsh news

Choose Nation.Cymru as a preferred source in Google News to see more of our journalism.