No more powers for Wales, says prime minister Rishi Sunak

Rishi Sunak told conference voters were not interest in constitutional tinkering

No more powers should be devolved to Wales, the prime minister has said.

Rishi Sunak told Welsh Conservative conference voters do not want politicians focused on "constitutional tinkering".

He accused Labour of making people in Wales "guinea pigs in a socialist experiment".

Earlier Andrew RT Davies said Mr Sunak should resist any calls for further powers for the Senedd and Welsh government.

The Welsh Conservative Senedd leader accused "out of touch" Welsh Labour ministers of holding "extreme beliefs".

Speaking at the event in Newport, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said people "do not want to see focus on more constitutional reform [and] constitutional tinkering".

"We need to move away from this kind of devolve and forget," he said.

Some UK government funding - such as the levelling up fund - is now going to Wales via local government, rather than the Welsh government.

He said that is still devolution: "Because just as Westminster doesn't know best Cardiff Bay doesn't know best."

Earlier Mr Sunak said he would keep using the name Brecon Beacons, which the national park has dropped.

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The senior Conservatives turned their fire on Mark Drakeford's government, seeking to identify his policies with Labour in Westminster.

They attacked the Welsh Labour government support for gender recognition reforms in Scotland, over the basic income pilot's openness to asylum seekers, and the roads review which has scrapped major road building projects.

Rishi Sunak said government had to move away from "devolve and forget".

Mr Sunak said: "Kier Starmer says that he looks at Labour on Wales as his blueprint for the UK. Imagine that, that is a scary thought.

"Paying asylum seekers £1,600, hundreds of thousands of people waiting years on the treatment they need, a block on road building.

"The people of Wales do not want to be guinea pigs in Labour's socialist experiment."

Mr Sunak said the basic income pilot - which closes to new entrants in the summer and is aimed at 18 year olds leaving care - would encourage asylum seekers to come to the UK.

A small number of asylum seekers are believed to be taking part in the pilot, which gives participants £1,280 after tax monthly for two years.

In his speech, Andrew RT Davies said more powers would be a "distraction" from improving Welsh health and education, and accused Labour of prioritising "fringe issues".

The Welsh Conservative Senedd leader said Wales is being left behind because of "Labour ministers who prioritise vanity projects and fringe issues over things that really matter".

He accused Labour of taking money from the Welsh NHS to "fund more politicians": "I don't know about you, but I'd rather more doctors, nurses and teachers."

Andrew RT Davies said Labour was prioritising "fringe issues".

Mr Davies criticised the roads review policy that has axed all major road projects, saying "out of touch Labour politicians living in their ivory towers might be able to get by on a bicycle but the rest of us can't".

'They don't need more distractions'

He said Mr Sunak should "not be afraid to say no" for calls from Labour and Plaid Cymru for more powers.

"The absolute last thing they need is any more distractions," he said.

"Requests for powers over policing, criminal justice and gender self ID, must be refused."

"Labour's ideological obsession with gender and putting their extreme beliefs above common sense puts people at risk, distracting them from the issues that matter, distracting them from running the north Wales health board, which is in special measures, yet again."

The Welsh government wants to pass a law to make it easier to legally change gender, but it would need the UK government to hand that power to the Senedd.

Elsewhere in his speech Mr Davies addressed criticism in the press of his Twitter account.

"Some in the media have said they don't like my style - that my style is too provocative.

"I make no apologies for this. When Wales is being held back by out of touch ministers in the Senedd, it is our duty, my duty, to speak out."

The Senedd Conservative leader had opened his address to conference by saying "bore da", before adding: "I've used a bit of Welsh so hopefully the media will write some nice things about me."

Economy 'is doing fine'

Mr Sunak was introduced by the Welsh Secretary, David TC Davies, who told conference that the "economy is doing fine" after Brexit.

He said critics had warned of the collapse of the economy.

"The fact of the matter is Brexit was delivered on time and as promised," he said.

"There's no shortage of vegetables or fruits or ice creams or as far as I'm aware, there is no shortage of Viagra either."