Surely it’s time for the love-in between Welsh Labour and UK Labour to end

Martin Shipton

How long can we expect the current love-in between Welsh Labour and UK Labour to last?

Surely there’s something rather disconcerting about the way in which Labour politicians at the Senedd are acting as cheerleaders for the new government at Westminster.

We are, of course, in new territory. The last time a new (and, incidentally, New) Labour government came to power was in 1997 – two years before what was then the National Assembly was established. After Tony Blair’s landslide, the focus of Labour in Wales was on winning the referendum that kick-started devolution two years later.

Without an Assembly, there was no locus for ideological differences between Welsh Labour and UK Labour. Indeed, Welsh Labour could barely be said to exist at all, except as a bureaucratic convenience.

Complex

Twenty-five years have passed since, and the relationship between Welsh Labour and UK Labour is much more complex. The referendum was won, albeit narrowly, and after a bedding-in period the Welsh Government led by Rhodri Morgan embraced the concept of “clear red water” under which New Labour ideas like the partial privatisation of public services were largely rejected.

Later we saw the development of “clear green water”, as Welsh Labour embraced “nationalist-lite” rhetoric and, to a degree, policies. It shamelessly stole the “Standing up for Wales” mantra that Plaid Cymru had used for decades.

During the long Tory years that began in 2010, we got used to Welsh Labour railing against perceived slights aimed at Wales from Westminster. This intensified after Brexit as Boris Johnson embarked on an undisguised campaign aimed at stripping the Senedd of hard-won powers.

The Welsh Government under Mark Drakeford did what it could to fend off such attacks, often working jointly with Scotland’s SNP First Minister Nicola Sturgeon. Many Plaid Cymru supporters saw merit in what they were doing, and to a degree saw the Welsh Government as an entity worthy of support.

Chaos

Mark Drakeford’s departure was followed by the chaos of Vaughan Gething’s brief period as First Minister, when big politics took a back seat and the implications of his behaviour took precedence.

The general election has come and gone and we now have a Labour government with a massive majority and a new First Minister in Eluned Morgan. It’s the summer, of course, but it’s not as if nothing has been happening. Yet despite concerns about some of the decisions taken by the Labour government at Westminster, the Labour government in Cardiff has so far been reluctant to make a stand on behalf of the people of Wales.

The scrapping of the winter fuel payment for pensioners not claiming pension credit or its equivalent will have a disproportionately high impact in Wales, where many thousands are just above the threshold. As Jeff Jones, the former Labour leader of Bridgend council, put it: “Everyone I meet talks about it. A really stupid thing to do, but typical of the middle class [running UK Labour]. The problem is they tend to be from London. If they know pensioners, it’s someone in the street with a £1m house or from the same background as their parents: professionals; both worked; great pensions.

“They just don’t understand the female pensioner on a state pension and a small works pension who worked as a carer. The result is they are often taxed, not eligible for pension credit and pay full council tax. They’ve always voted Labour and are seriously pissed off.”

Fuel poverty

To be fair, when responding to a question from Welsh Conservative Senedd leader Andrew RT Davies, Social Justice Minister Jane Hutt did say: “The decision that the winter fuel payment will no longer be universal risks pushing some pensioners into fuel poverty.”

However, she softened the criticism by stating: “This is why I am keen to work closely with the new UK Government on our shared ambition of tackling poverty to develop a permanent, effective form of protection for households in need;” – the implication being that after a cosy chat with Chancellor Rachel Reeves in 11 Downing Street, a solution will be found easily and the aggrieved pensioners will get their money.

Sadly, anyone sensible knows this is a forlorn hope. We can only imagine the level of Ms Hutt’s indignation if the decision had been by Tory ministers.

On a broader level, Ms Reeves has made it clear that because of the dire state of the public finances left behind by the former Tory government, there will be tax increases and spending cuts.

We’re already getting a flavour of what that will mean as news spills out from public bodies about specific services that may be dispensed with. The other day, Caerphilly council was talking about mothballing the tourist and educational attraction Llancaiach Fawr – a Tudor manor house – as well as the iconic music venue the Blackwood Miners’ Institute. Both managed to survive 14 years of Tory cuts.

Are Labour politicians really going to let them perish because of more far-reaching cuts imposed by the new Labour government at Westminster?

Concern

Yet where are the expressions of concern from Labour politicians in Wales? The Labour leader of Caerphilly council talks about the need for “tough choices”. Is this really what was envisaged when senior Welsh Labour figures spoke of the benefits that would come to Wales because of two Labour governments working together? It seems they may still be bathing in the euphoria of their election victory and unaware that anything is amiss.

Am I being too harsh? Blaenau Gwent Labour MS Alun Davies thinks I may be. He said: “It’s only 49 days since Keir Starmer was elected and it’s understandable that people don’t want to rock the boat immediately after 14 years of Tory rule. We’ve been in the bedding-in phase and are only just moving into the governing phase.

“I’m sure that Welsh Labour will reassert itself. It needs to be accepted that Wales is disadvantaged in comparison with England, and therefore cuts can have a disproportionate impact here.

“Secondly, Wales is a bit to the left of England and that has to be acknowledged. It wasn’t much of a problem during the Blair years, and I don’t see why it should be now.

“What needs to be remembered is that we’ll be fighting a Senedd election in 18 months time and we need to be offering the electorate something positive rather than more austerity.

“The Welsh Conservatives were always very deferential to the Tory government at Westminster, to the point where they came across as clowns. I’m sure Welsh Labour won’t fall into that trap.

“One thing I’m quite exercised about at the moment is that in Scotland the Scottish Secretary Ian Murray is talking about legislating in the Autumn to bring the post-Brexit regional aid programme under the control of the UK Government instead of the Scottish Government. That’s exactly what the Tories did and it represents a massive attack on devolution. Things like that have to be opposed.”

As events unfold over the coming months and years, it will be interesting to see the extent to which Welsh Labour is prepared to assert itself against a UK Labour government whose instincts and priorities are likely to be different.