Wales needs fair rail deal, FM tells Starmer

Wales was being "short-changed" after missing out on a share of funding spent on HS2, Eluned Morgan told Sir Keir Starmer

First Minister Eluned Morgan has told Sir Keir Starmer Wales needs "fair play" on rail infrastructure.

The UK and Welsh Labour leaders met in Edinburgh at the UK’s new Council of Nations on Friday.

Wales was being "short-changed", she said, after missing out on a share of funding spent on HS2.

But she said she did not expect to see the cash in Chancellor Rachel Reeves's first budget this month: "We need more time for that."

Starmer's UK government has not committed to the funding, which opponents say could be worth billions of pounds to Wales.

The Welsh government said it would have had £350m so far, had the project been classified under the funding formula that determines the size of Wales' budget.

Starmer said bringing together the heads of the UK and devolved governments would "reset" relations.

It follows years of disagreements between Tory governments in Westminster and the Labour Welsh government.

Morgan said of her meeting: "I did talk to him about the need for fair play in relation to rail infrastructure."

She said while Wales was being short-changed its share of HS2 spending was not in the billions.

She said: "What we will do now is come up with a number of propositions in terms of where we would like infrastructure spending to go in terms of rail in Wales."

Morgan said increasing public spending would not be easy because of the "£22bn hole left by the Tories".

“I don’t want to raise expectations too much in terms of rail infrastructure this early on because we need to make sure that those plans, the projects, are available and ready to run,” she said.

The prime minister would not be drawn on whether the UK government would provide Wales with HS2 funding, saying: "We had a very good set of collaborative discussions".

The meeting was "exactly what I wanted", he said, adding that it was "a resetting of the relationship and, if you like, rolling up our sleeves, working together and delivering for Wales."

Despite being appointed the PM’s envoy to the nations and regions, former Downing Street chief of staff Sue Gray was not in Edinburgh. Downing Street said she was taking a break between the two roles.

Welsh Conservative leader Andrew RT Davies said: "This body is just another Labour talking shop.

"That’s proven by the fact that the new so-called envoy isn’t even attending today’s meeting, and is instead still embroiled in the chaos at the heart of this Labour government."

A Plaid Cymru spokesperson said: “Labour in Wales need to shout louder and demand from their bosses in London the fairness Wales deserves."