Leaked Cabinet memo highlights Labour's 'contemptible attitude' towards devolution

A leaked Personal Minute from the Prime Minister to Cabinet from 12 December 2025 highlights the UK Government’s contempt for devolution, the Plaid Cymru leader has said.

During today's First Minister's Questions in the Senedd (Tuesday 10th March 2026), Plaid Cymru leader Rhun ap Iorwerth MS questioned the Labour First Minister over a leaked memo from the Prime Minister obtained by Plaid Cymru. 

The Prime Minister gave instructions to Cabinet Members to override devolved governments, which the Plaid Cymru leader says is a "direct assault on the democratic views of devolved governments."

The Prime Minister stated "we should be confident in our ability to deliver directly in those nations, including through direct spending, even when devolved governments may oppose this."

Only a week prior, Sir Keir Starmer said he was a “big believer in devolution” following criticism from several backbench Labour Members of the Senedd after the UK Government decided to bypass Welsh Government with their “Pride in Place” scheme, despite local government funding being devolved.

Plaid Cymru leader Mr ap Iorwerth criticised the Labour Secretary of State for Wales, Jo Stevens, for being complicit and said the Labour First Minister has failed to stand up for Wales.

Speaking in the Chamber, Plaid Cymru leader Rhun ap Iorwerth MS said,

“I have here a personal memo from the Prime Minister to his Cabinet colleagues, signed by the Prime Minister, in which he actively encourages working against devolved governments if that furthers his Government’s interests. It says:

“‘..an overly deferential or laissez-faire approach to devolved government engagement almost inevitably creates political challenges or misses positive opportunities. We should be confident in our ability to deliver directly in those nations, including through direct spending, even when devolved governments may oppose this.’

“There we have it in black and white. Keir Starmer’s own version of Boris Johnson’s muscular unionism.

“Not only dealing with devolution in bad faith but undertaking a direct assault on the democratic views of devolved Governments.

“By staying ever loyal to him, the First Minister is aligning herself with efforts which undermine her own government.

“Why has the Labour party turned against devolution and why has the First Minister allowed the UK’s Labour Prime Minister to treat our Parliament, her government, and the people of Wales with such contempt?

He continued:

“When it comes to standing up for Wales, her ‘Red Welsh way’ has done nothing more than lead us up the garden path.”

“Setting aside the fact that this is clearly an overtly party political letter on headed government paper, it demonstrates beyond doubt that the loyalty of the Labour UK Prime Minister is to his party and his own government, even if his actions are deemed unacceptable by a democratically elected government in Wales.

“And the Secretary of State for Wales is complicit as the memo states that the Wales Office stands ready to assist – so you have a Welsh Secretary using her place at the cabinet table to bypass Wales.

“This memo was sent soon after Labour  backbenchers here wrote to the Prime Minister to vent their anger at his attitude towards Wales. What a disdainful response to their legitimate criticisms.

“The First Minister has run out of road when it comes to apologising for and defending the Prime Minister.

“Labour is now actively working against the interests of Wales in order to protect its own self-interest. Surely she must agree with me that the Prime Minister’s attitude is contemptible.”

- ENDS - 

Plaid Cymru leader outlines ownership-led plan to build Welsh wealth

Rhun ap Iorwerth has told an LSE event that growing Welsh firms and strengthening local ownership are key to long-term growth and economic resilience 

Plaid Cymru leader Rhun ap Iorwerth has set out Plaid Cymru’s ownership-led economic vision to a London policy audience, arguing that building Welsh wealth depends on scaling home-grown businesses and keeping more firms in Welsh hands. 

  

Speaking at a devolution economics debate hosted by the LSE School of Public Policy and the LSE Growth Lab on Monday evening (2 March) as part of Wales Week London, the Plaid Cymru leader told academics, investors, and policymakers that Wales does not lack entrepreneurial talent, but must do more to support businesses to grow and remain rooted in Wales. 

  

Rhun ap Iorwerth pointed to evidence that between 2010 and 2017, 53 per cent of Welsh SME ownership transfers resulted in acquisition by firms based outside Wales. He warned that this has contributed to what business groups have described as Wales’s “missing middle,” a shortage of productive medium-sized firms embedded in their communities and reinvesting profits locally. 

  

He argued that businesses with strong local roots are more likely to invest in their workforce, develop Welsh supply chains, and plan for the long term. 

  

During the discussion, Rhun ap Iorwerth highlighted Plaid Cymru’s policy to a new National Development Agency for Wales, a business-led body operating at arm’s length from government, with a clear mandate to support indigenous growth alongside attracting investment. 

  

The panel also included Chelsea Pinches-Burrowes, founder of WCS Agency and Cardiff Life Magazine, Professor Graeme Roy, Chair of the Scottish Fiscal Commission, and Lorena López de Lacalle, President of the European Free Alliance and a former minister in the Basque government. The discussion was chaired by Professor Richard Davies, Director of the UK’s Economics Observatory and the LSE Growth Lab. The discussion covered devolution, local decision-making, and the challenges and opportunities for building resilient regional economies. 

 

Speaking at the London School of Economics and Political Science, Rhun ap Iorwerth said: 

  

“We are lucky to have many talented entrepreneurs in Wales. The challenge is how we support them through those difficult early years, how we help them scale, and how we create an economy that encourages businesses to remain in Welsh ownership. 

  

“Between 2010 and 2017, when businesses changed hands, 53 per cent were sold to new owners outside Wales. That issue of ownership is a big problem. We need to strengthen the sense of ownership, which means focusing on the businesses we currently have and putting the mechanisms in place to help them grow, giving them support, access to finance where necessary, and the confidence to grow in Wales as Welsh-owned businesses. 

  

“Commitment matters. Businesses that are genuinely embedded in Wales are more likely to invest in their workforce, build local supply chains, and plan for the long term. This is how we can make growth sustainable and ensure prosperity stays in our communities. 

  

“We have the building blocks in place, but we need sharper focus. Plaid Cymru’s plans for a dedicated, business-led National Development Agency for Wales can provide the support, advice, and access to finance that Welsh businesses need to grow while remaining rooted in our communities. 

 

“We will of course also be looking to maximise investment into Wales, but growing Welsh-based businesses is vital, as is encouraging companies that invest in Wales to embed roots in Wales by using local supply chains. 

  

“Building Welsh wealth is about building Welsh ownership. That is central to our economic vision and to creating long-term, resilient growth across Wales.” 

- ENDS - 

Spring Statement ignores ‘significant change’ to economic outlook

Chancellor must act to protect small businesses and households as Iran war hits energy prices – Ben Lake MP 

Responding to the Chancellor’s Spring Statement today, Plaid Cymru Treasury spokesperson, Ben Lake MP, has said the escalating war involving Iran and the resulting surge in gas prices represent the very “significant change to the economic outlook” that the Chancellor previously said would require action. 

Gas prices have almost doubled since the outbreak of hostilities. Because gas sets the UK’s wholesale electricity price around 90% of the time, this spike is already feeding directly into higher electricity costs – placing small businesses and households across Wales under renewed financial strain. 

With small and medium sized businesses account for over 99% of firms in Wales, Plaid Cymru warned that failing to act now risks undermining jobs, investment and the viability of high streets and rural enterprises. 

In November, Chancellor Reeves said the Spring Statement would include an “interim update on the economy and public finances” from the independent public finances watchdog, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), and that there would be no policy changes unless there is “a significant change to the economic outlook that requires a response.” 

 

Plaid Cymru Treasury spokesperson Ben Lake MP said: 

"The Chancellor said there would be no policy changes unless there was a significant shift in the economic outlook. There are mounting fears that prolonged conflict in the Middle East will impact gas prices and deal a significant blow to today’s forecasts. 

"As gas continues to set the wholesale electricity price most of the time, this surge risks impacting Welsh businesses and households. Small firms – the backbone of our economy – are already struggling with the cumulative impact of higher energy prices, increased staffing costs and taxation, and are ill-equipped to absorb any further price increases. 

"The UK Government should have used this statement to address some of these pressures, including by extending the 75% Renewable Obligation reduction to non-domestic users. This would have at least helped to shield small businesses from high energy costs. Plaid Cymru also urged the Chancellor to consider a cut to VAT for hospitality and tourism, increase the Employment Allowance to ease National Insurance pressures, and introduce a statutory duty to rural proof the Treasury’s policies. 

"At a time of renewed global instability and rising energy costs, we need to be bold. The Chancellor must now bring forward targeted measures to support small businesses and provide reassurance to households facing yet another squeeze on living standards." 

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NOTHING TO SEE HERE

Interesting to note that Labour in Wales have launched their campaign and unveiled their pledges today in Newport. In all honestly there is not much to see with no serious recognition of the Labour in Wales past record and failures and once again no concrete plans just re-announcements of things that should have been done years ago.

The pledge to eradicate homelessness by 2034 - was a previous pledge was 2026, the mental health pledge seems to be appointment to get an appointment, and the NHS maintenance backlog is in billions already. 

Over the current Senedd term, the NHS estate maintenance backlog has increased by at least £500 million to £1.2 billon. The high risk backlog alone has increased by over £120m in this time, having reached a third of a billion by 2024-25. And its worst noting that over the last 27 years Labour in Wales has retained control of Health but clearly not the responsibility for the mistakes.

And as was to be perhaps expected there was nothing from Labour in Wales to shift the dial with Westminster or challenge the current PM Keir Starmer on Welsh issues. This is actually some tired stuff from a party that has been in power in Wales for almost 30 years and has long run out of ideas. And the people of Wales just won’t be buying it.

After almost 27 years of Labour in Wales, people are facing long NHS waiting times, rising costs, and overstretched services. There has been no serious reckoning with that record, and no real plan to fix it - just re-announcements of things that should have been done years ago. 

There was also nothing that would shift the dial with Keir Starmer or challenge Westminster’s neglect of Wales.

Plaid Cymru in contrast, has a clear plan for government, starting with our first 100 days to improve the NHS and deliver the most generous childcare offer in the UK. In Plaid Cymru, you get a party relentless in demanding the fairness Wales deserves from whoever is in power in Westminster.

In this election, it’s beginning to look like Labour in Wales is finished, bereft of ideas, vision and any plan to fix the mess that they have made. This is now clearly a two-horse race, and only Plaid Cymru can stop Reform UK from dragging our politics backwards.

THE PLAN FOR FIRST 100 DAYS

Plaid Cymru will today publish its plan for the first 100 days of government should it win the Senedd election on 7th May.

The plan will be launched by Plaid Cymru leader Rhun ap Iorwerth today (09.30am Saturday February 28 2026) during a special press conference at Plaid Cymru’s spring conference at the ICC in Newport.

Current polling indicates the battle for the Senedd is between Plaid Cymru and Reform UK with Labour likely to fall to at least third place.

The plan outlines actions a Plaid Cymru government would take in its first 100 days on all major departments including the NHS, economy, education, rural affairs, the environment, housing, and fairness for Wales from the UK Government.

It also lays down a marker in terms of how a Plaid Cymru administration would differ from any which has gone before it.

Speaking ahead of the launch, Plaid Cymru Leader Rhun ap Iorwerth said people had lost faith in government and Plaid Cymru wanted to ‘restore that faith’.

He said his party was ‘determined’ to make government work better, istening to people, and uniting public services as One Welsh Public Service, ‘guided by clear values, transparency, and putting people at the heart of everything we do’.

Plaid Cymru leader Rhun ap Iorwerth said the last twenty-seven years of Labour rule had left Wales ‘wanting’ with the NHS ‘overwhelmed’, educational standards ‘among the worst in Europe’, and an economy ‘still too tied to Westminster to have any real firepower’.

The Plaid Cymru leader said Plaid Cymru was the only party with a ‘detailed plan of action’ that represents the ‘genuine new leadership the people of Wales deserve’ and hoped it would ‘inspire’ voters to put their faith in the party to lead the next Welsh government.

Plaid Cymru leader Rhun ap Iorwerth MS added that a Plaid Cymru government under his leadership would be serious about tackling child poverty, bringing NHS waiting lists down, driving up educational attainment and make Wales a better place to do business.

Plaid Cymru leader Rhun ap Iorwerth MS said,

“In May, Wales faces the most significant election in its history.

“Nearly twenty-seven years of Labour led rule has left our nation wanting. An NHS overwhelmed by demand, educational standards among the worst in Europe, and an economy still too tied to Westminster to have any real firepower.

“Others may promise change but as this plan proves, Plaid Cymru is the only party with a detailed plan of action, representing the genuine new leadership the people of Wales deserve.

“We take nothing for granted, but the challenges facing our communities are so many in number and complex in nature that it would be irresponsible not to set out how a Plaid Cymru government would plan to start addressing them.

“Underpinning our programme is a conviction that our government must be a better government. People in Wales have increasingly lost faith in governments – they are seen as distant, not reflecting their priorities, telling not listening, talking not doing. We set out our new approach as a government – to bring our public services together as One Welsh Public Service and establish core values that will drive our all work.

Plaid Cymru leader Rhun ap Iorwertth MS added,

“As First Minister, my promise to the people of Wales is simple – to lead a team that works  hard every day to make your life better. A government that is serious about tackling the national scandal of child poverty, relentless in its focus on bringing down waiting lists, committed to driving up educational attainment and passionate about making Wales a better place to do business, providing high-skilled, well-paid jobs.

“Nearly thirty years since the citizens of Wales said ‘Yes’ to a parliament of their own, my hope is that Plaid Cymru’s vision, and our roadmap for putting it into action – of which this First 100 Days plan is a key element – will inspire the voters of today to put their faith in us to lead the next Welsh government.

“Westminster has ignored Wales’s voice for too long. With Plaid Cymru at the helm, the UK Prime Minister will be left in no doubt what a strong, effective and compassionate government looks like as the old order is replaced with new leadership, new energy and new ideas.

- ENDS -

PLAID HOPE OR REFORM CHAOS

Election is a straight choice between Plaid hope and Reform chaos – Rhun ap Iorwerth

Plaid Cymru Leader Rhun ap Iorwerth MS will today address his party’s Spring Conference hailing the upcoming Senedd Elections as a straight choice between Plaid’s hopeful vision and the chaos Reform’s ex-Tories would bring. 

Speaking to delegates in Newport, Rhun ap Iorwerth will set out the positive case for voting Plaid Cymru on May 7th whilst accusing Reform of having “no accountability, no seriousness, no policies, and no shame in using our nation just as an electoral springboard, nothing else.” 

Rhun ap Iorwerth MS is expected to highlight the contrast between his party and Reform with Plaid Cymru’s hopeful vision, and will to stand up to Westminster in a way the current First Minister is unwilling to do so:

“We offer hope - hope that can overcome people’s fears of other political forces leading Wales down a dark path.

“Hope that things can get better for our Health Service, that our elderly relatives won’t have to wait so long for treatment or that the burden of childcare costs on our sons and daughters’ household budgets will be eased.

“And hope that, finally, Wales will have a government willing to stand up to Keir Starmer, to Jo Stevens and anyone else denying our nation the fairness it deserves.”

The Plaid Cymru Leader will warn that Reform-run councils England are the “canaries in the mine” when it comes to what the party would have in store for Wales:

“Friends, for Labour, the party is over - and so the election in May will be a choice between two contrasting futures.

“Tolerance or division. Progress or decay. Defiance or deference. Culture or ignorance. Humanity or indifference. Plaid or Reform.

“Conference, we all know that a Reform government full of ex-Tories would set our country back decades.

“Faceless candidates and feckless council leaders from Northumberland to Kent are the canaries in the mine when it comes to what Farage has in store for our parliament and our people.

“They say they accept devolution, for now. But they’d turn against it on a whim. We all know they have zero loyalty to Wales and our nationhood.

“No accountability, no seriousness, no policies, and no shame in using our nation just as an electoral springboard, nothing else. 

“And what of Farage’s man in Wales? An ex-Tory leader of a London council? Thatcher’s own council no less, but this man took privatisation to levels even she didn’t imagine.

“When we asked for a Barnet consequential, this really isn’t what we had in mind!

“With such a damning litany for a parade of ex-Tories, you’d expect them to be no-hopers too. But they’re not.

“They have deep pockets to spread propaganda and evangelise the deep fakes of Musk’s putrid platforms, and they have the right wing media in the palm of their hands.

“But despite their rags, and their riches, Wales would be so much wealthier without them.

In advance of launching Plaid Cymru’s ‘First 100 Days’ plan for government, Rhun ap Iorwerth MS is expected to say how his party will aim to deliver better government for the people of Wales:

“I want us to do politics differently in Wales. And here’s how.

“From Brexit to Covid, a sense of being unheard and not listened to has been normalised.

“A feeling of being left behind, of helplessness in the face of events and tribulation, of being let down, even abandoned by conventional politics - and the ‘establishment political parties’ - is manifest.

“We have to promote the kind of democracy that engages people and dispels cynicism.

“By empowering individuals and communities, something which runs deep in our thinking and in our values, we can revitalise what has become an almost redundant political model. We can offer Wales a different kind of deal, drawing on our collective experiences and aspirations to shape a better Wales.

“We aim to be known as a team that runs a better government, or quite simply got the basics right.

“We’ll be people centred, thinking always of the impact our policies, legislation and actions will have on people’s lives in Wales.

“We’ll be open, transparent and digitally driven, sharing information and insights, highlighting opportunities and challenges – to build a new confidence and a new trust in our Welsh democracy.

“We’ll be cooperative and collaborative, bringing people together within government, across the public sector business and beyond, to solve common problems together.

“And above all else we’ll be unrelenting in our focus on outcomes not outputs, leaning in not on how much we do but rather on the return we get from doing it.”

- ENDS -