First Minister states Starmer is tired of HS2 funding requests

First Minister Eluned Morgan has stated that Prime Minister Keir Starmer is “sick” of her consistently raising the issue of HS2 funding for Wales during their meetings, referring to him as “poor”. Morgan acknowledged that, even after receiving an additional £1.7bn from the UK government’s budget, she has requested further funds from Starmer for specific areas. She highlighted that High Speed Rail is classified as a joint England and Wales initiative, yet it does not extend into Wales, resulting in no compensatory funds being allocated to Cardiff Bay for expenditures incurred in England. Although the UK government has dismissed the possibility of additional funding, Starmer had previously expressed a desire to enhance Wales’s rail infrastructure. In an interview with BBC Politics Wales, Morgan affirmed: “I will make sure that he knows that I’m not backing off.” She added: “Every time I see him, the poor prime minister is sick of me asking him about money for HS2. “But let’s not complain that we’ve just had an extra billion pounds after we’ve been waiting through years of austerity.” Welsh Labour is advocating for £350m in HS2 funding for Wales, alongside endorsing proposals to transfer control of the Crown Estate to Wales and revise the funding allocation formula for the nation. These specific concerns were not addressed in the UK Labour government’s budget presented in October. Morgan stated, “People are sick of the doom and gloom,” further remarking that the public desires a sense of hope, which she is confident the budget will provide. The Welsh government’s draft budget revealed an allocation of an additional £437m for routine NHS expenditures and £175m for singular investments like facility upkeep and new equipment. Morgan declared her “ruthless focus” to be on decreasing waiting lists, reiterating her objective to cut the number of individuals waiting over two years from 23,000 to 8,000 by April. She declined to specify a timeline for the complete elimination of this figure.