Show me the money

Ben Wildsmith

I know you all seem to think it’s ‘big’ and ‘clever’ to criticise Sir Keir because of his religious devotion to fiscal restraint, but at least try to get your facts right.

Personally, he was right behind the campaign to compensate Wales for HS2 differentials. The problem lay with the fierce patriotism of the Secretary of State for Wales.

Jo Stevens, who is as implacable as her hero Hugo Chavez, will brook no compromise when it comes to Welsh interests. For her, HS2 is an ‘England & Wales’ project because it benefits areas of the West Midlands that she considers to be Welsh by dint of the Tripartite Indenture of 1405.

Planting a Welsh flag today outside Tesco Express in the hitherto Staffordshire village of Kinver, the Secretary of State told reporters,

‘Welcome to East Wales!’

Tyranny

Pressed on whether she supported calls for the Crown Estate to be devolved, the Secretary of State refused to acknowledge the Crown as an entity.

‘I would not sully my hands with money from the Lancastrian tyranny,’ she explained, spitting loudly in the direction of the A449 to Dudley.

HS2, it seems, is back on. LBC Radio reports, without correction from the government, that the line will now run from London Euston to Crewe. Barring the last-minute announcement of a diversion to Caersws International, not one inch of track will be laid in Wales, nor one extra penny remitted in compensation to Welsh taxpayers.

50% of the line’s financial benefits have been assessed to accrue in the South East of England, so even with Wales discounted, it is neutral as regards ‘levelling-up’.

A crucial lesson

There is, however, a crucial lesson to be learned for Wales from how the extension to Crewe came about.

Last year, just before the Conservative conference, West Midlands Mayor, Andy Street, demanded that Rishi Sunak guarantee extra trains running through the Midlands to Manchester.

At a time of political vulnerability for Sunak, with an election imminent, Street let it be known that unless the trains were signed off, he would resign during the conference. Widely respected in the party, Street’s resignation would have triggered an existential crisis for the government.

The implications for the Tory vote in the West Midlands were extremely serious.  The trains were announced, and Sunak was able to delay the inevitable a little longer.

With Labour inheriting a commitment that was also strongly backed by Manchester Mayor, Andy Burnham, a way had to be found to deliver. The strongest business case was to reinstitute the HS2 stretch between Birmingham and Crewe.

This, naturally, revives hopes that expansion further north might now be possible in the future.

Ignored

So, why are the Midlands and Northern England receiving investment at the request of their devolved institutions whilst Wales, with its ostensibly far more powerful Senedd, remains ignored. The answer, in my view, is that both the Midlands and, latterly, the North of England are areas of electoral jeopardy.

Put simply, the volatility of the electorate there means that governments are anxious to keep them onside. Here in Wales, Labour weighs its own vote and occasionally gets to weigh everyone else’s too.

Plaid Cymru and the Lib Dems  are insufficiently competitive to offer a meaningful threat and Reform UK is yet to establish a political structure here.

Now, it may be in the months and years to come that UK Labour decides to recognise the extraordinary loyalty that Welsh voters have gifted it over the years and invest in our nation commensurately. Early statements about the Crown Estate and HS2, however, do not augur well for that outcome.

If, as seems likely, we are to be taken for granted once again, I believe it is time for a fundamental change in how politics is viewed here. Starting with the Senedd elections, the Welsh electorate needs to demonstrate that it is unsentimental in demanding resources for our people.

Insurgent

Wherever an insurgent candidate shows willingness to insist on a better deal for a constituency and Wales generally, they should be backed regardless of party affiliation.

Much is made, not least by me, of the proud, progressive tradition in Wales. All the notional commitments we have to fairness and environmental leadership, however, are worthless if we are too impoverished to enact them.

Street and Burnham have shown the way in terms of exerting power from without on the criminally centralised UK coffers. Where are the Welsh politicians with the guile, or even the will, to do the same on our behalf?

It is time to shake off attachments to parties and traditions that leave us vulnerable to manipulation by bad actors on the Westminster scene. Whichever rosette turns up at my door before the Senedd election, and the Westminster ones to follow, will be met with the same demand.

‘Show me the money.’