The Welsh government is being “humiliated” by the UK government’s stance on devolution, according to a Labour Senedd member.
Alun Davies criticised the way the country is funded and disagreements over powers with Westminster, saying it was “not fair that Wales is treated the way it is”.
There is a split within Labour between Westminster and Cardiff on where power should lie in devolved areas, with Labour Senedd members criticising UK government plans to fund town centre improvement work in Wales without involving the Welsh government.
Plaid Cymru leader Rhun ap Iorwerth used the debate in the Welsh Parliament on Wednesday to accuse Sir Keir Starmer of “an abject lack of delivery for Wales”.
In the Senedd, Davies said he wanted “equality for our country within the United Kingdom”, having earlier argued that policing powers should also be devolved to Wales.
“It is not fair that Wales is treated the way it is, and it is not fair that Welsh ministers are humiliated – and we saw it this afternoon – having to run to catch up because they don’t know what’s being said from London,” he said.
“It’s not fair that Welsh ministers need to try to explain that rail funding is fair when it’s self-evidently not, that Barnett is fair when it is self-evidently not.”
The Barnett formula is used by the UK Treasury to set funding for Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
The Welsh government has said the formula should be changed because it does not meet Wales’ needs.
Davies was one of 11 backbench Labour Members of the Senedd (MSs) who signed the letter attacking the way that funding for the town centres plan, Pride in Place, is going directly from the UK government to local councils including those in Wales.
Another signatory to the letter, Jenny Rathbone, said the policy was “pitting one deprived area from another” and that the money had been “top-sliced” from funding to the Welsh government.
“So, that is why this is so devastating and it is absolutely about the everyday affairs of the people I represent,” she said.
The UK government previously said Pride in Place will let local people decide priorities for their areas, and that the funding was “on top of the record funding we’ve already given to Wales”.
But Plaid leader Rhun ap Iorwerth said the UK government was “bypassing devolution altogether”.
Conservative MS James Evans meanwhile said arguments about the devolution settlement “are not only tiring, they are actively distracting us from the serious challenges that the people of Wales face”.
Responding to the debate, Deputy First Minister Huw Irranca-Davies repeated Welsh government calls to devolve powers over the Crown Estate and the justice system.
“The strength of our record as a Welsh Labour government and as a Welsh Labour party is that we stand up for devolution and we deliver for the people of Wales,” he said.
