Starmer to laud ‘path of change’ in Wales in first Welsh Labour conference as PM
Sir Keir Starmer will hail a “path of change” with Labour governments in Wales and Westminster as he gives his first address to the Welsh Labour conference as Prime Minister.
He will confirm that a £160 million investment zone in Wrexham and Flintshire will be going live in 2025 in what he will call another essential step towards the change Wales voted for in July.
wipe out
Labour won 27 out of 32 Parliamentary seats in Wales in the general election, wiping out the Conservatives, who now have no MPs in Wales.
During a visit to Airbus in North Wales on Friday with First Minister Eluned Morgan, Sir Keir said it was a “game changer” to have Labour governments in both Wales and Westminster.
He will say on Saturday that communities in Wales and across the UK are ready for an exciting new era, with “Labour Wales and Labour Britain” pulling in the same direction once more and serving the people of Wales with the “full force of our union”.
Baroness Morgan, who took over as the leader of Welsh Labour in August, will tout the “power in partnership” between two Labour governments working together to deliver for the people of Wales.
She is expected to announce £22 million to tackle NHS waiting lists in Wales, in addition to £28 million already pledged.
Record
The Prime Minister will also call the Budget allocation for Wales unveiled last month “a record figure”.
He will say: “£21 billion for Wales next year – a record figure. That is the path of change. £1.7 billion extra through the Barnett Formula – that is the path of change.
“More money for Welsh schools and hospitals, more investment in Welsh potential and pride, £88 million for city and growth deals, £1 billion for aerospace, benefiting companies like Airbus, which I visited yesterday in Broughton, and a new hydrogen future in Milford Haven.”
He is also expected to say that he will “defend our decisions in the Budget all day long”.
Protest
Farmers unhappy with the changes to inheritance tax unveiled in the Budget will, meanwhile, carry out a protest to coincide with the conference.
They will be escorted by police as they set off on tractors from Llandudno and end at Venue Cymru, where the conference is being held.
The protest organisers, Digon yw Digon, said: “Enough is enough. Our Government isn’t working or listening to us.
“This is an opportunity to stand shoulder to shoulder with farmers and rural communities.
“We call on everyone to attend in solidarity — whether by walking, driving, or bringing agricultural vehicles such as tractors, slurry tankers, lorries, or 4x4s with trailers.”
Planning
Welsh Secretary Jo Stevens said farmers need to start succession planning to avoid inheritance tax.
She told Sky News: “If you do succession planning for your business you can get to a situation where you don’t have any inheritance tax applying to your estate.”
Ms Stevens also said it is unlikely farmers in Wales will be affected by the change in inheritance tax policy for farms.
“The data that we have from the Treasury is that only 500 farming estates across the whole of the UK, we think, will be affected by the changes,” she said.
“And the nature of farming in Wales is such that there are lots of much smaller farms … so we don’t have those very big, wealthy farm owners like you see in some parts of the United Kingdom, they aren’t in Wales.”
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‘The Path of Change’ the yellow brick road to banality…
Why do I get the feeling that despite all this ‘extra’ funding, by the buddies either side of the M4, Cymru will remain one of the poorest regions in Europe? We’ve heard all this hype before. If we really want a more prosperous future for our children – full independence from Westminster is the only way to go.
No mention of handing back the Crown Estates to the people of Wales or the £5 billion + HS2 charges for a rail service that was never intended to service the rail needs of Wales. As usual Labour are trying to pull the wool over our eyes by ignoring the extraction of wealth from Wales to England while throwing us a few peanuts.
I watched a lengthy montage recently of Starmer saying one thing then later saying exactly the opposite, so anything he says I take with a pinch of salt.
Until only politicians in Wales are making decisions for Wales and can be held fully accountable for those decisions then Wales will always held back somewhere.
Liebour same as Tories CONS same horse different jockey both unionist Parties that do nothing for Wales time to leave the DISUNITED KINGDOM
What’s to be announced by Keir Starmer is merely chicken feed compared to expenditure in England. Where’s the North Wales rail electrification promised by the Tories? Quiet on that front, I see Oh, and before UK Labour highlight the £22 billion ‘black hole’ in UK’s public finances, are still continuing with the HS2 line to Euston in London at the cost of over £1 billion. This sum is likely to rise further still. The cost of the rail electrification in the North was around the same cost. Around £1 billion. Some say £1.5 billion. But like with the pipedream of… Read more »
Add geology to the smoke and mirrors…