Five Welsh Labour MPs told they need a starter pack on devolution after asking Starmer to change planning rules
Martin Shipton
Five Welsh Labour MPs have been told they need a starter pack on the devolution settlement after urging the Prime Minister to reform planning policy, even though it’s been the responsibility of the Welsh Government for 25 years.
Newly elected Alex Barros-Curtis of Cardiff West, Torsten Bell of Swansea West, Kanishka Narayan of Vale of Glamorgan and Henry Tufnell of Mid and South Pembrokeshire were among a total of 54 who wrote to Sir Keir Starmer, as was Tonia Antoniazzi, who has represented Gower since 2017. Six Scottish Labour MPs also signed the letter, while the rest of the signatories represent constituencies in England.
Tired
In their letter, the MPs state: “As newly elected MPs, we’ve heard loud and clear from the public in our constituencies across the country that they want delivery. People are tired of big promises like we saw from the last government, but no positive impact on their lives. With such a strong mandate from the country, it’s imperative that the new government grasps the nettle and goes for growth.
“Growing the economy will be the way in which we can unlock Britain’s untapped potential, better fund our vital public services and make people better off in every part of the country. This absolutely has to start with sweeping planning reforms to get Britain building again.
“Under the Tories, planning permissions for new homes hit record lows and house building cratered. Indeed, not once in their 14 years in power did the Conservatives meet their housing targets. Energy and transport projects were promised but not built. That’s why we are writing to you to make clear that it’s in the national interest to start delivering on our manifesto promise, including 1.5m more homes across this parliament at the earliest opportunity.
“A failure to act will not be forgiven by the public. Britain has a housing crisis and a huge infrastructure deficit. Without strong and immediate action, this will only worsen. But we know this will mean tough choices. It will mean backing the builders and not the blockers. It will mean delivering infrastructure and public services alongside new homes to unlock economic opportunities, and prioritising grey belt development. And it will mean difficult conversations in our own communities about how, not whether, we deliver our targets.
“Without decisive action including to reform planning policy, working across all four nations, the UK will remain in a trap of low growth, meaning we cannot make our country more prosperous. We want to extend our support to say that if this new Labour government is prepared to make those tough choices, to bring growth to every part of the country, we will be ready to work hard and make the argument in our communities to ensure we can deliver the new homes and infrastructure that is so desperately needed.
“In doing this, we will hit the targets we promised the voters, ease the pressure in towns and cities and unlock the dream of home ownership, while boosting economic growth. We stand ready to help to deliver change across the country.”
‘Political ignorance’
A Welsh Labour insider said: “Planning and housing policy is devolved to the Welsh Government, so why are these Welsh MPs writing to the PM about English planning policy? Planning policy is currently under review in Wales, yet there is a total absence of any equivalent letter to the Welsh Government.
“It’s either complete political ignorance or performative cynicism for their own career advancement: they could be MPs anywhere. After 25 years of devolution these Welsh MPs seem to need a starter pack on the devolution settlement.”
A Plaid Cymru spokesperson said: “If Welsh Labour MPs truly wish to make Wales more prosperous through better housing and planning policies, they should be challenging their own Welsh Labour colleagues’ record of failing to deliver social and affordable housing for the people of Wales over the 25 years they’ve been in power, rather than focussing on policy matters in England.
“Despite an ambitious target of building 20,000 new low carbon homes by 2026, latest figures show fewer than 6,000 were built in the first two years.
“All the while, communities across Wales are crying out for planning policy reforms that will benefit communities and facilitate building desperately needed new homes – reforms that are currently in the works, but are distracted by Labour infighting.
“Only Plaid Cymru is holding both Labour governments to account and is ready to deliver for communities across Wales.”
We invited all five MPs to comment, but none of them did so.
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The fact, surely, is that the unreflective and reflex instinctive mindset of both main UK parties is ‘unionist’.
Get with the programme. Before signing a letter treating Britain as though it’s one country, educate yourselves about devolved matters. By all means, ask your Westminster bosses for more money for Wales in this and all department areas if they purport to govern for the whole island and request equivalent fair funding so that our nation’s’ government can implement policy in line with their intentions. We in Wales have a keen eye on bypassing thanks to our recent experience.
No doubt some of the same people will try to wave the Welsh flag, after they have previously claimed to be speaking for the one British nation.
For myriad reasons the political selection pool has never been so dire. Many of the people who present themselves as candidates are not remotely capable of fulfilling the role. Many of them are, put simply, quite thick. I despair.
This is not the consequence due to those five being thick but the result of their mindset that sees Cymru as little more than a part of greater England.
It’s a mindset that infects all British nationalist parties to a great or greater effect reaching it’s apogee in Reform which is basically an English nationalist party.
4 of them seem to have been parachuted into Wales for the GE, the 5th is probably a bit thick insofar as she likes to sign up for anything before stopping and thinking.
At least the SOE gave their jumpers proper training and issued maps, money and a phrasebook…pride goeth before a fall as they say…
What you’ve posted is alas very true and that goes for all of the parties’ candidates. I’d expect Mr Narayan, the Vale of Glamorgan’s MP, to be able to do basic research though. After all he attended Eton from the age of 13 and then both Oxford and Stanford Universities before going on to do policy jobs in Whitehall. Basic research ought to be bread and butter stuff for him. Additionally Labour locally made a big thing about his “links” to Cardiff and that he’d lived there for 2 years before being selected as a candidate. He should have picked… Read more »
Oops! Isn’t it embarrassing when you start a new job and make an idiot of yourself because you haven’t done your homework? You would have thought it was pretty basic to at least learn about the political situation of place you represent if you’re going to do your job properly.
Ie, dyma’r oll mae ar y blaid Lafur eiso ei wneud – codi miloedd ar filoedd o dai di-angen (pan fo’r boglogaeth naturiol yn gostwng) a hyrwyddo drwy hynny mewnlifiad a gwladychu, a hyn yn enw ‘cynnydd economaidd’! Gelynion y genedl ydynt. Anathema.
Cant canrif. Pan prisiau yn cynyddu heb gynydd y boblogaeth, dydy nifer o adeiladau newydd ddim y problem.
If you think back to the days of the covid pandemic & especially when Mark Drakeford finally had enough of bojo’s nonsense then openly defied Westminster to do the right thing for Cymru in regards to health being devolved, well, the gasps of astonishment were audible throughout Cymru from over the border. I remember statements like ” gosh, when did this happen ” to ” how dare they have their own parliament & government & do things their own way”. This thinking was bourne about by both ignorance & disinterest in the political discourse especially in regards to Cymru. These… Read more »
One thing that comes across when you engage with most MPs is that they have very little understanding of policy, and even less knowledge about the various governments of the UK and their competencies. Torsten Bell is rapidly proving himself to be a classic case of style over substance, as he still appears stunned to discover that he is representing a constituency in Wales – that is Wales, not in England, but Wales in contrast to England. As my tad-cu used to say, “If you vote for donkeys…”
Ofnaf fod Rhufawn Jones yn hollol gywir. Mae’n eglur y bydd y Llywodraeth Lafur newydd yn fwy o fygythiad i hunaniaeth Gymreig nag a fu’r Toriaid hyd yn oed. Mae holl reddfau’r Blaid Lafur yn drwyadl unoliaethol a Phrydeinig.
The critisicm and comments directed at these individuals, although entirely right, is far too guarded and polite. I will not express on this site the sentiments which I certainly feel SHOULD rightly be directed at these people and the Labour party in general. Let me just say this; anglosupremacist scum.
Torsten Bell of Swansea West, Starmers prodigy he’s done NOTHING for Swansea only in position for12 weeks if that and already saying he knows what his constituency wants – TOTAL BULL. Perhaps if he spent more time on the main worries and speaks to pensioners who will lose the fuel allowance that might help
The only planning change needed is limiting the timeframe for permission granted. Because no matter how many planning applications granted, the developer sits on it and sells on at a profit without even building a thing. But instead parachuted mp’s with no link to us, ask Starmer to interfere.
It is obvious performative nonsense. Labour are putting forward a narrative, much as the Tories did in 2010, so that they can compare themselves favourably further down the line. What this letter demonstrates is the crass ignorance of the signatories. IMHO they just dont care beyond their political prospects. All of which goes to show that the Westminster Consensus does not serve the interests of Cymru. We need a new constitutional settlement and the only way to produce the pressure to achieve that is to vote Plaid Cymru.
I especially like the reference to infrastructure without specifying a single project. The only target is millions of homes, on an island already replete with empty houses and whose population growth rate has been negative for decades. Labour are as lacking in ambition as their predecessors. I suppose they are the same political party at heart.