Labour minister mocked after making ‘laughable’ Welsh rail investment claims in new year message

Emily Price 

Welsh Secretary Jo Stevens has been mocked following an end of year message in which she hailed Labour’s “significant investment” in Welsh railways throughout 2025 and pledged further upgrades in 2026.

Stevens said the government in Westminster had delivered “transformative investment” for Wales over the last 12 months with measures to “grow the economy, create jobs and tackle the cost of living”.

The Labour minister highlighted £445 million announced in the Chancellor’s spending review in June for Welsh rail following decades of underfunding.

Earlier this month, the UK Government confirmed it would use some of the allocated cash to back plans for a £140 million revamp of Cardiff Central station in a bid to support passenger growth and reduce overcrowding.

The plans will see the development of new stations, safer level crossings and line upgrades to follow.

£78m will be provided by the UK Department for Transport for the project while £40m will come from the Cardiff Capital Region City Deal and £21m will be provided by the Welsh Government.

In Stevens new year message, she said: “Wales has two governments working together to deliver the priorities of working people and families across the country and the benefits are beginning to be seen.”

Welsh Liberal Democrat Leader Jane Dodds called for the Welsh Secretary to commit to restoring Wales’ “missing HS2 millions”.

Dodds said: “2026 is the year in which Welsh voters can tell Jo Stevens and the rest of the Labour Party that they will no longer settle for having one hand tied behind their back.

“If Jo Stevens and the Labour Party are really committed to a bright 2026 for Wales then they should make a New Year’s resolution to restore the missing HS2 millions, devolve the crown estate, and reform the Barnett formula.”

Row

It comes following an ongoing row over the designation of major rail projects such as HS2, the Oxford to Cambridge rail line and Northern Powerhouse rail.

The three schemes have all been classified as “England and Wales” projects by the UK Government.

Opposition politicians say this means Wales has missed out on billions of pounds in consequential funding.

The UK Government says these claims are untrue.

In recent weeks, several Labour Senedd Members signed a strongly letter to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer raising significant concerns about his government’s failure to move forward with plans to devolve further powers to Wales.

Since Labour’s general election win in 2024, the party’s MSs have expected the UK Government to press ahead with reforming the outdated Barnett Formula and for rail infrastructure, policing and justice powers to be devolved to Wales.

However, this has not happened.

‘Neglect’

The Welsh Secretary’s new year message also nodded to the announcement that Wylfa on Anglesey would be the site of the UK’s first small nuclear reactors.

It’s hoped the project will create thousands of jobs during construction and operation, whilst helping to make Britain a “clean energy superpower”.

Cost of living

It was backed by the announcement of two AI Growth Zones for Wales and by £10 million to support jobs in the semiconductor cluster along the M4 in south Wales.

Stevens said the UK Government had also taken steps to tackle the cost of living crisis with a £150 saving on household energy cap, an increase to the national minimum wage and the removal of the two-child benefit cap.

She added that Starmer’s government had ensured public services across Wales were better funded after the Welsh Government received “another record budget settlement” in 2025.

Stevens said: “We promised new jobs and economic growth for people across Wales after more than a decade of neglect and this UK Government has delivered generational investment – from new nuclear, to AI and rail.

“The new funding for Wales’s semiconductor industry and for the continued transformation of Port Talbot shows we are investing in Wales’s industrial future and the high skilled jobs and growth it will bring.

“People across Wales will have more money in their pockets as a result of our measures to help with the cost of living which we are making sure that the Welsh Government is funded properly and fairly to spend on its priorities like the NHS and schools.”

The Welsh Secretary concluded her new year round up saying the UK Government would continue to deliver for Welsh communities throughout 2026, “building on the transformative investment of 2025”.

Job losses

Two freeports in Anglesey and south west Wales will become operational next year and the UK Government says it will continue to provide support for steelworkers in Port Talbot affected by job losses as a result of Tata Steel shutting its traditional blast furnaces and moving to greener electric arc furnaces.

Stevens said: “We are now achieving our ambition to bring positive change to the lives of people and communities across Wales. But we have only just begun and we will move even further and faster in 2026.

“As we look ahead to the new year, the UK Government remains focused on delivering for Welsh communities, creating jobs, driving investment and ensuring that the benefits of economic growth are felt by people in every part of Wales.

“And outside politics I especially hope to see Wales qualify for another major tournament and head to North America for the World Cup this summer.

“There is a bright 2026 ahead for Wales as we continue our work to unleash opportunity and bring a decade of national renewal.”

Mocked

Shadow Secretary of State for Wales Mims Davies branded the “invisible” minister’s claims “laughable” and reminded Stevens that “April Fools’ Day is four months away”.

Davies said: “In just 15 months in office, Labour has caused unemployment to rocket in Wales, the Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ second disastrous budget is destroying 1,000 jobs every single day, while some working farmers are still set to be hit by the impact of their pernicious family farm tax affecting our food security.

“On top of this, their proposed tourism tax threatens countless more jobs as the hospitality sector is under strain like never before.

“The ambitious programme delivered by the last UK Conservative Government — including half a billion pounds to safeguard and future proof Port Talbot Steelworks, cuts to National Insurance, key major Welsh investment, and the abolition of Severn Bridge tolls — is now being unravelled by a Labour government determined to tax to the hilt.

“In just 5 months, the people of Wales will in the Senedd election have a chance to fix part of the problem by kicking out this exhausted Labour Welsh Government, after they have mismanaged Wales for 26 years.

“The Welsh Conservatives, unlike all the other parties, actually have a bold, credible and ambitious plan to deliver for Wales, by tackling wanton pet project spending and boldly bringing forward academies, scrapping business rates and stamp duty, building an M4 relief road and many more exciting initiatives which will soon be outlined.”