The next Welsh Government must demand equal status with Scotland

Stephen Price

With all signs pointing towards Wales no longer being a one-party-state come May, it will be no surprise if things get shaken up somewhat more than the business-as-usual approach of the entire lifetime of the Senedd.

It’s all-too-easy to sling mud at a sitting party, with those in opposition able to promise the world without having to back anything up, and we’d sell Wales and the very many kind and gracious folk at Welsh Labour short if we didn’t look at how much good has been done since the dawn of the then-Welsh Assembly.

From free bus travel, to prescriptions, to the Wales Coastal Path, we’re indebted to many of the forward-thinking, compassionate moves from Welsh Labour.

And who can forget Drakeford’s star turn and balls of Welsh steel during Covid.

But things haven’t been quite so rosy since Vaughan Gething’s coronation and Starmer’s unpopular tenure at Number Ten.

Growing dissatisfaction with Labour’s half-hearted approach to governance while ‘at both ends of the M4′ can be best highlighted by their head-in-the-sand approach to Wales’ very status within the UK.

All the way back in December 2024, Plaid Cymru – who just might hold the keys come May if their supporters aren’t made complacent by recent polls – called for Wales to be given parity with Scotland on devolved powers.

Rhun ap Iorwerth warned Wales remains the “poor relation” among devolved nations in policy areas ranging from rail, justice and tax to welfare benefits and the Crown estate.

He said: “Our democratic rights as parliamentarians in Wales can’t be considered to be inferior when compared to legislators in other devolved legislatures. But that is the position that we currently find ourselves in.”

Leading a debate, Mr ap Iorwerth warned billions of pounds-worth of investment is being withheld because of a lack of powers over rail infrastructure.

The Plaid Cymru leader criticised Eluned Morgan for “batting away” questions deemed to be beyond the powers of the Senedd “week after week” at first minister’s questions.

He said: “Let me decode what she is saying: ‘I’d rather not cause a problem for Keir Starmer than try to do what’s right by the people of Wales.’ It’s weak, it’s weak, it’s weak.”

Mr ap Iorwerth accused Labour of talking the talk on pushing the boundaries of devolution but “remaining resolutely passive when it comes to actually agitating for change”.

He told the Senedd: “If the union is to prove its worth … then at the very least, surely, Wales deserves parity of status with Scotland.

“And regardless of our differences on the ultimate constitutional journey for Wales … it is inconceivable that any party purporting to represent the interests of our nation should not support this very basic principle.”

He added: “The real danger is that any snail-paced incremental change – Labour’s general state of constitutional being – is watered down even further to satisfy party orders.

‘Destruction of the UK’

The Conservatives’ Paul Davies called for a focus on making better use of the powers already devolved rather than “tinkering” and “pushing for more”.

He said: “It’s also very much our view that Wales should not just be a carbon copy of Scotland just because Plaid Cymru says so.

“And to be frank, Plaid aren’t interested in having the same amount of powers as Scotland; they want independence, and we all know that that will in turn destroy the United Kingdom.

“That is their objective; that is their objective, the destruction of the United Kingdom.”

Criticising constitutional naval-gazing, Mr Davies added: “We have to urgently address the apathy for the Senedd by getting on with the job of delivering on the people’s priorities.”

Adam Price said he had never heard such a passionate defence of the status quo.

The former Plaid Cymru leader asked: “Why defend that status quo? Look at Wales as it is. You talk about broken public services. Look at the criminal justice system. That’s a public service. You’re right, it’s broken but not because of any decision made in this chamber.”

‘Imitation’

Responding to the debate on December 11, Huw Irranca-Davies raised concerns about a “for Wales, see Scotland”-style approach.

The deputy first minister told the Senedd that the Welsh Government’s guiding principle will always be what is in the best interests of the people of Wales.

Incredulously, he said: “We don’t want to copy and paste the devolution settlement from somewhere else,” adding: “That would actually be imitation, not devolution.”

In the final Senedd vote of 2024, members rejected the Plaid Cymru motion, 37-12, before a version as amended by the Welsh Government was agreed 26-12 with 11 abstaining.

Fast forward to August 2025, Welsh Secretary Jo Stevens formally confirmed that the UK Government will not devolve Crown Estate revenues to Wales in response to a letter sent to Keir Starmer from YesCymru

In a letter addressed to YesCymru’s directors, Ms Stevens stated: “The Crown Estate has played a significant role in attracting international investment into Wales to support the UK’s net zero target and will continue to do so. In June, the Crown Estate announced a partnership with Equinor and Gwynt Glas to develop two new floating offshore wind projects in the Celtic Sea. It is estimated that this new industry will support over 5,000 new jobs and deliver a £1.4bn boost to the UK economy. This is hugely significant to Wales and will help to deliver transformational change to areas such as Port Talbot.

“I am therefore pleased that the Crown Estate is contributing to clean and renewable energy generation in Wales in a number of ways. This includes investment for Welsh projects to help build the supply chain for the offshore wind sector as part of £400m of Crown Estate funding to support new infrastructure for offshore wind projects across the UK.

“Wales will also benefit from the Crown Estate’s first commercial leasing round for floating offshore wind, as well as investment in tidal energy development and support for the HiNet carbon capture cluster.”

“The Crown Estate works closely with the Welsh Government and Natural Resources Wales in support of shared priorities, ensuring that these resources are sustainably managed for the long term. This government’s focus is on taking maximum advantage of the opportunities floating offshore wind presents for Wales using all available levers within the existing devolution settlement.

“The Crown Estate’s work will continue to deliver for Wales, particularly in creating well paid green jobs, advancing research and development across various sectors while reducing domestic energy costs. This is why I have worked across government to create a Crown Estate Commissioner with special responsibility for Wales for the first time. This will ensure the interests of Wales are fully reflected in the Crown Estate’s work.

“The work of the Crown Estate will be further strengthened by its partnership with Great British Energy, which has the potential to leverage up to £60bn of private investment into the UK’s drive for energy independence. It is this government’s view that devolving the Crown Estate and introducing a new entity would risk market fragmentation, complicate existing processes, and delay further development offshore.”

The letter continued: “Furthermore, devolution would mean Wales losing access to Crown Estate investment that comes from its revenues in England. It would also risk undermining investment in floating offshore wind, which is needed to provide lower bills, cleaner energy, and better jobs. This government is focussed on delivering these objectives and so does not support the devolution of the Crown Estate in Wales.

“Even if devolution could be done without risking the revenues the Crown Estate generates, this would not automatically lead to an increase in the funding available to the Welsh Government. This is because any revenues retained by the Welsh Government in a devolved system would likely be offset through reductions to their block grant as is currently the case in Scotland.

“Creating an artificial border through the Celtic Sea would also complicate crucially important work to develop the floating offshore wind industry, particularly as floating offshore wind lease areas straddle the Wales/England border. I hope this information proves useful to you.”

The condescension and lack of self-awareness knows no limits.

“Westminster says no”

In a social media post, YesCymru’s directors said: “Despite the backing of all 22 Welsh councils and the clear economic case for Welsh control over our own natural resources, Westminster says no.

“Instead of trusting Wales to manage our seas, energy, and future, they’re protecting the status quo – where decisions about Wales are made in London, and profits flow out of Wales.

“This is not just a constitutional issue – it’s about fairness, democracy, and economic justice.”

🟥 Westminster betrays Wales – again!
In a letter to YesCymru, Welsh Secretary Jo Stevens MP, on behalf of the UK Government, has officially refused to transfer control of the Crown Estate to Wales.

Despite the backing of all 22 Welsh councils and the clear economic case for… pic.twitter.com/BDuK5kxbHC

— YesCymru (@YesCymru) August 7, 2025

In response, a protest demanding justice for Wales met at the YesCymru stall on the Eisteddfod Maes in Wrexham at 1pm on Friday August 8 2025.

During the protest, Yes Cymru Chair Phyl Griffiths and Director Rob Hughes delivered powerful speeches demanding control of our own resources.

Phyl Griffiths said: “The Crown Estate proves that the practice of extraction is still alive in 21st century Wales and has resulted in all 22 authorities speaking with one voice, underlining the fact we’re a nation.

“The London government’s response to our call to transfer control of the Crown Estate to Wales, however, only proves that they see us as nothing more than a region of the UK.”

Rob Hughes said: “Jo Stevens’ insulting response to the will of the people of Wales is a dark day to those who still cling to the hope that the union will prevail.

“A growing number of Welsh citizens now see independence as inevitable and YesCymru firmly believes that it will come far quicker than anyone expects.”

YesCymru has pledged to intensify the campaign in response to Westminster’s refusal to respect the will of the Welsh people, with further actions and announcements to be shared with members and supporters in the coming weeks.

Insufficiently other

The issue of disparity between the devolved nations rears its angry head on quite the regular basis, but the question over the fairness of the situation has reached boiling point over recent years amid growing dissatisfaction with the Crown Estate.

Spurred on by the green energy gold-rush, along with scrutiny over the large swathes of land (and their profits) owned by a colonising power here in Wales, calls are being repeated for Wales to receive the same control over the Crown Estate that Scotland has.

But it’s not just this one area where Wales lacks both the same level of power granted by the land next door.

Even down to the number of public holidays we have, Wales always seems to be last in line.

Devolution

The UK has had devolved governments since the late 1990s, which work alongside the Westminster Parliament.

There are different types of devolution across the UK’s nations and parts of England.

For many years England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland were run by the UK government, based in Westminster in London, but there were growing calls to transfer some of this power to Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast.

Public votes about devolution were held in 1997 in Scotland and Wales, and on both sides of the Northern Irish/Irish border in 1998 as part of the Good Friday Agreement.

The UK government in Westminster remains responsible for policies which affect just England, as well as overall policy in a number of areas.

These include defence and national security, foreign policy, immigration, citizenship and tax – although Scotland has its own powers to raise and lower income tax.

Wales

The Senedd’s responsibilities include:

• Agriculture, forestry and fishing
• Education
• Environment
• Health and social care
• Housing
• Local government
• Highways and transport
• Some control over income tax, land transaction tax (known commonly as ‘stamp duty’), and landfill tax
• Welsh language

Scotland

Scotland already had its own legal and education system. After devolution, it has become responsible for many areas, including:

• Agriculture, forestry and fishing
• Education
• Environment
• Health
• Housing
• Justice, policing and courts
• Local government
• Some transport
• Taxes including income tax, stamp duty and air passenger duty
• Some welfare powers
• Crown Estate

Northern Ireland

Devolution in Northern Ireland is different to Scotland and Wales, with government powers divided into three categories:

1. Transferred powers are controlled by the Northern Ireland Assembly
2. Reserved powers remain with Westminster, but could be transferred in the future, these include prisons and civil defence
3. Excepted powers cannot be moved to the Northern Ireland Assembly without special laws being made in Westminster. They include elections and national defence

The main powers of the Northern Ireland Assembly include:

• Agriculture
• Education
• Environment and planning
• Health and social services
• Local government
• Justice, policing and prisons
• Control over air passenger duty
• Transport
• Culture, language and sport

Wexit

Wales only has control over some areas of tax unlike Scotland. And Wales lacks the same power over justice, policing and courts.

Various Commissions have recommended the devolution of further powers, such as certain tax powers, policing or the legal jurisdiction, with some but not all of these recommendations having been implemented thus far.

This has led to Wales having fewer areas of responsibility than Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Before the UK blindly walked into the ongoing chaos that is Brexit, many were calling for an ‘off the peg’ status for the UK in line with others that have ‘special relationships’ such as Norway, but knowing what we were actually voting for was far too sensible an option for anyone to explore further.

Similarly, wouldn’t it be easier, more sensible, for everyone if the devolved nations had equal powers? The same number of public holidays?

Raise your flag 

Wales’ next Government should not let equality with Scotland be our end goal.

We need to be bolder, and not ask for the profits from Crown Estate lands, but the complete handover of the land itself, and greater openness over who else owns our land at our own expense.

The Labour Party (typically) had much to say when in opposition in Westminster, and telling our nation that they know better with regard to the Crown Estate, with our own stolen land, despite every council in Wales saying otherwise, is the final, unforgivable straw.

Without the need for us to vote-in the lesser of two evils in Senedd elections, Labour’s time is up – and so is our acceptance of Wales’ status as fourth-best-in-show.

There is no conceivable reason why the Welsh Government should be inferior to Scotland or Northern Ireland’s.

I hope Huw Irranca-Davies’ condescending words, shutting down so very many of our simple calls for parity with Scotland, come back to haunt him on 7 May.

In Wales’ journey to full devolution, we aren’t asking for imitation, but chwarae teg (Fair play), plain and simple.

The current situation is far from that, and easily resolved, and Labour only have themselves to blame for forgetting who it is that puts them in the positions they are in – whose causes they are there to champion – the very same people who have been given no other choice but to give another party a go at simply acting in our best interests.

Wales’ people know what’s best for us, and that is not a party that is so far removed from us that it no longer speaks for us or listens to us.

A change is as good as a rest, as they say, and worn-out Labour’s fair effort deserves commendation. But it’s time they rested too, and time we gave another party a chance to fight tooth and nail for Wales and its people.

Exciting times ahead!

More information on how to vote on 7 May can be found here.