Labour leadership hopeful under fire over Welsh funding

"That was the government line at the time" - Andy Burnham explaining why he refused to review the Barnett formula.

I've been talking to the candidates for the labour leadership as they prepare for Welsh hustings in Cardiff on July 5.

You can get a flavour of the interviews here. Andy Burnham's comments on the way Wales is funded from Westminster were the most likely to raise eyebrows.

Mr Burnham told me that he realised eight years ago as chief secretary to the Treasury that Wales was short-changed by the Barnett formula used to decide changes in the Welsh government's budget.

I asked the obvious question: if he knew Wales was under-funded, why did he reject calls from his own side to tackle the issue?

He replied: "That was the government line at the time, and obviously I wasn't in a position to over-rule that. I wasn't number one at the Treasury, I was number two.

"But the great thing about a contest like this is that you can speak for yourself and put forward your own manifesto to put your own stamp on the Labour Party. In this respect I believe Wales has been short-changed and as leader I would take steps to correct that."

The interview was described as a "Burnham bombshell" by Welsh Labour MP Paul Flynn (a supporter of Liz Kendall's leadership campaign).

Plaid Cymru, perhaps less surprisingly, were swift to leap on the shadow health secretary's comments. Plaid leader Leanne Wood said: "The favourite in Labour's leadership contest has been exposed as someone else who says one thing but does another when they have the opportunity and influence.

"While in the Treasury during the last Labour Government, Andy Burnham was in a prime position to address Wales' underfunding. He did nothing."

Mr Burnham argues that he did what he could within the parameters at the time, delivering "the best possible deal I could" in a spending review settlement for Wales that was welcomed by the [Labour] Welsh government.

But his explanation may prompt a question or two from his audience at the hustings in Cardiff.