Welsh Secretary rejects calls for Wales to receive ‘billions owed’ for HS2 rail project
The Welsh Secretary has rejected the calls from Plaid Cymru for the UK Government to “cough up the billions owed to Wales” in relation to HS2.
During Wales questions on Wednesday (11 September) the party’s Westminster leader Liz Saville Roberts said: “The railways are broken, and Labour’s plan fails to address the chronic underfunding that has caused it, particularly in Wales.
“Now, in 2022, the then-shadow secretary of state said that it was ‘utterly illogical to designate HS2 as an England and Wales project’, and she called on the Conservatives to cough up the billions owed to Wales. Will she cough up now?”
Welsh Secretary Jo Stevens replied: “We can’t go back in time and change the way that project was commissioned, was managed, and classified by the previous Conservative government, they need to accept responsibility for the chaos, delay and waste under their watch.
“But what we can do is work closely with our Senedd and local authority colleagues to develop and invest in transport projects that improve services for passengers right across Wales.”
£4 billion
The designation of HS2 as an England and Wales project by the Treasury means Wales, unlike Scotland and Northern Ireland, does not receive additional funding from money spent on the project.
The Treasury, under the previous Conservative administration, argued that the HS2 rail link between London and Birmingham, benefits both England and Wales, despite there not being an inch of track laid in Wales.
This has denied Wales up to around £4 billion based on the most recent estimates of the project’s total cost, if it had been designated as an England only protect.
In the run up to the recent general election, Ms Stevens repeatedly refused to commit to ensuring Wales would get its share of consequential funding from the HS2 rail project.
She has also claimed that the sum of money owed to Wales is only £350 million despite calling for the Conservative Government to deliver the “missing £4.6 billion of rail funding for Wales” in 2022.
U-turn
During an S4C interview on 17 June, Ms Stevens justified Labour’s U-turn by claiming that “HS2 is no longer in existence”.
HS2 is currently being built between London and Birmingham – with the project recently being described as at “peak construction”.
When the Birmingham to Manchester leg was scrapped in 2023, the Labour Welsh Government said that “If HS2 becomes only a London to Birmingham railway, it makes the case even clearer that HS2 is an England only project.”
Early in June, the Senedd voted unanimously to call for Wales to be given its fair share of funding.
However, on 27 June the Welsh Government said it had recalculated the sum owed in HS2 consequentials to just £350 million.
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When will people learn? Labour is not a friend of Wales and never has been.
Cymru has and always will suffer no matter which party is in government. This has been the case for over 800 years. Independence NOW is the only answer…… along with non-serving, strong and honest AMs of course.
Well now the people of Wales need to wake bloody up to the attitude of Unionist Parties both Labour and Tory treat Wales they have the same attitude towards give us nothing and only Take and will continue to do so until we leave the DISUNITED KINGDOM they gave the money to Scotland and Northern Ireland
Is it the job of every Welsh Secretary to deny, reject and refuse anything that Cymru requests, requires or are owed? One would think their role was to support and encourage the development and welfare of the country.
Labour in Cymru again give a stark reminder to the electorate, that their priorities and loyalties are to the UK and London ahead of its voters, who put them in power to represent the needs of the people of Cymru. Remember this at the next election, Labour along with the other unionist parties do not consider you to be an equal in the UK and not worth the votes you give them, shown by how all other 3 countries benefited from HS2, but not us.
This should be a warning to opposition politicians.
Ask for what is realistic.
We want our country CYMRU to be an independence country.
Every country has this right. UN membership.
Rich or Poor, Better or worse, Cymru must have its freedom to run our own country.
Seeing England always gets the three lionshare of infrastructure build with the proviso that “it’s beneficial to Britain”, and seeing both Scotland & NI were given hundreds of millions in HS2 consequential but Wales insulted when we were cynically lumped in with England & Wales by the anti-Welsh Conservatives, what Plaid Cymru & Liz Saville-Roberts asks for is what we rightly deserve. End of. No ifs or buts. Labour are complicit.
Labour will continue to hold Wales back so that we can keep on blaming all our woes on the Tories
When will the people of Wales who foolishly voted for UK Labour last General Election finally realise you were duped by fraudster Keir Starmer. He & they are not socialists but cold and callous anti-Wales Conservatives. Proof is in the eating and they leave a bad taste in ones mouth. Putrid in fact. You’ve merely replaced like for like. All you’ve done is foolishly extended Tory rule in Wales by another 5 years. Tell me what’s different to Rishi Sunak’s regime? We had 14 farcical years of incompetence and corruption. Both Labour & Tories refuse the devolution of our Criminal… Read more »
Two governments from the same UK party:
Conspiring against the people of Cymru.
Don’t let this continue.
Vote Plaid Cymru.
Vote for freedom and Independence.
This reminds me. If there was another Aberfan disaster the Welsh Labour party would NOT give a £1 with the excuse the coal mines are no longer in use. DO NOT TRUST THE LABOUR PARTY.
For Wales to get the Same as Scotland and Northern Ireland through the Welsh Sec is like banging a head against a BRICK BLOODY WALL they do nothing for Wales except deny us and hold us back
This behaviour and attitude is beyond disgusting. Not surprising in the slightest, but absolutely disgusting.
Wales is being blatantly stolen from and pillaged by a foreign government, how much more until they’re happy they’ve taken everything?
Jo Stevens seems to be the enemy within. No loyalty or aspirations for the people of Wales. She represents herself not those who elect her. The Labour party may have been born in Wales but it has been highjacked by right wing neo liberals, Thatchers children
Totally disgusting and reprehensible of the lady. No wonder she’s a supporter and chum of Mr V Gething. Say anything, do anything, deny anything if it doesn’t suit them .
I would like to ask Ms Stevens what she plans to do to improve the railway network in Wales. It is overpriced, inefficient and dirty. It is badly in need of big investment.
a few billion might help – and it’s not what we’re owed, it’s what we’ve already paid in!!
I thought the English Tory Troll who goes by the name on here of Morfudd Ap Haul would be on here spouting his nonsense where are you
Do these labour politicians have any principles at all ?
They’re like fleas on a dogs back
I think that by turning this into a party political issue, people are missing the point in a juvenile attempt to score non-existent points. Over the years TfW has had plenty of money: over a billion and counting on the Cardiff Metro alone but much of this money has been wasted on unrealistic schemes. There is no real core thinking at TfW. People want trains and buses that run, and turn up on time, and no matter which political party you try to blame, the fundamental issue is one that money is not going to put right. It is about… Read more »
It’s issues like this and other concerns, like the Crown Estates rip-off, that everyone in Cymru needs to be made very well aware of. Our country can not continue to be shat on like this, the time has come to get out of the Union. We have plenty of grievances, like those mentioned, to make everyone aware of but we also have plenty of positive reasons why we should be independent too. Such as the abundance of saleable water and electricity and a deficit (upon independence) now calculated to be low enough to be manageable. The argument for independence must… Read more »
Labour and the Tories. Both will stab you in the back and pick your pocket.
As First Minister, Mark Drakeford demanded HS2 consequential payments for Cymru-Wales. Will he reiterate that demand now he has been appointed Finance Secretary?