At last Welsh Labour tells Starmer’s Labour some home truths

Dr Keith Darlington

On 3rd December, eleven Welsh Labour politicians signed a letter addressed to Sir Keir Starmer. They accused the Labour UK government of rolling back devolution by bypassing ministers in Cardiff Bay to make decisions in Wales. Differences between Welsh Senedd Members and Westminster MPs who hold Welsh seats have been well documented over the years. Those in the former group generally believe that greater control over our affairs in Wales is the way forward, whilst those in the latter group are likely to resist changes to the devolution project.

The former group believe that extending devolutionary powers is not inconsistent with Britishness, whilst some in the latter group still view it as a threat to Britishness.

In this article, I show that these differences are partly rooted in the way that some in Labour struggle to separate Welsh identity and nationalism, whilst others have no difficulty reconciling being both Welsh and British.

The Letter

The letter, which included signatures by many senior Labour MSs and former Welsh government ministers, but not any sitting ministers, said there is increasing concern that the UK government is failing to deliver further devolution. The letter also accused Starmer's government of a constitutional outrage by announcing a scheme that will give councils cash for town centre improvements. This funding bypasses the Welsh government, which generally governs and funds local government in Wales. The scheme runs counter to the spirit of devolution.

The signatories of this letter and all highly experienced MSs who understand Welsh politics far better than their Westminster-based MP counterparts holding Welsh seats. Furthermore, these MSs cannot be accused of doing this to try to save their seats, as most of them are not even standing in the Senedd elections in May
2026. To understand what is happening, it's essential to keep in mind that Westminster Labour has always had an ambivalent and muddled attitude towards Welsh devolution.

UK Labour’s Attitude to Devolution

In the 1979 referendum on Scottish and Welsh devolution, many Welsh Labour MPs were deeply hostile to any devolution. They included influential MPs like Neil Kinnock and George Thomas (later became Lord Tonypandy). Some of them claimed that devolution was incompatible with socialism and that it would lead to a fascist brand of nationalism. This thinking persists to this day with Labour’s Secretary of State for Wales, Jo Stevens, who has repeatedly described Plaid Cymru and Nigel Farage's Reform UK as "two sides of the same coin" or "different poison, same bottle," arguing that both are divisive nationalist parties. This is complete nonsense but demonstrates their muddled thinking about nationalism.

Welsh devolution was voted down in the 1979 referendum. A majority voted for Scottish devolution in that same referendum, but it wasn't passed into law because it didn't reach the required threshold at that time. However, for the next 18 years, the Scottish electorate had a hard-line Tory government imposed on them, causing deep unease and outrage in Scotland. It was imposed on them because Scotland had never voted for a Tory government during this period. John Smith became Labour leader in 1992 and described the establishment of a Scottish Parliament as "the settled will of the Scottish people," which became the cornerstone of his party's plan for democratic renewal in the UK.

New Labour and Devolution

The tragic death of John Smith in 1994 and his strong belief in devolution left his successor, Tony Blair, no choice but to commit to another referendum in both Scotland and Wales in late 1997 after becoming PM in May of that year.

As in 1979, several Welsh Labour MPs implacably opposed devolution, but the vote succeeded, albeit with a small majority, and the National Assembly for Wales formally began in May 1999. New Labour deserves credit for establishing the Welsh Assembly, but differences quickly emerged over the nature of devolution. Some wanted the powers of the Welsh Assembly to be limited to little more than that of a glorified county council.

This diminished view of the Assembly's role held by some in Labour led the Prime Minister, Tony Blair, to try to impose Alun Michael as First Minister after Ron Davies's resignation. He feared that Rhodri Morgan was more independent-minded and would do what he thought was right for Wales rather than be slavishly told what to do by UK New Labour. But it backfired, and Rhodri became First Minister. He was the people's choice and recorded stellar ratings in opinion polls during his period as First Minister.

Changes to Devolution since 1999

UK Labour’s ambivalence didn't end in 1999. They deserve credit for establishing the Welsh Assembly, but beyond that, UK Labour has made few changes since. Devolving further powers since are due to non-Labour UK governments. For example, it was the Lib Con Coalition government that consolidated the Assembly's limited powers through another referendum in 2011, granting the Assembly full primary legislative powers in its devolved areas. This was approved emphatically, with 64% supporting the Assembly having greater law-making powers. The Wales Act 2014 introduced tax and borrowing powers, and further devolved powers, including partial control over income tax, stamp duty, and landfill tax, were devolved in 2018-2019.

Since Starmer’s UK Labour came to power in 2024, they have not shown any inclination whatsoever to extend powers to Wales. They refuse to devolve the Crown estates to Wales – contrary to the wishes of Welsh Labour and all councils in Wales. Neither will they implement judicial reforms, as many experts believe would benefit Wales. Nor do they want to consider changes to the Barnett formula – despite claiming otherwise during the election campaign.

Welsh Labour’s Choice – Country or Party?

Welsh Labour Senedd members, even though part of a greater UK Labour party, are elected as representatives of Wales. Their first duty, therefore, should be to Wales. Leaders like Rhodri Morgan and Carwyn Jones understood this and balanced these roles accordingly. They were popular figures who realised that, to do things like encourage inward investment, they needed to represent Wales as a nation in its own right. At the heart of this matter is the inescapable conclusion that UK Labour is at best indifferent to devolving powers to Wales and at worst hostile. Therefore, the eleven signatories of the letter were right to call out Starmer’s Labour.