She said Labour governments both ends of the M4 were “a partnership in power” and that the Labour government in Westminster was making changes that were “transforming lives in Wales“.
“Let’s be honest though, it hasn’t all been popular,” she said, of the party’s record since last July’s General Election win.
“The cuts in winter fuel allowance is something that comes up time and again and I hope the UK government will rethink this policy.”
Image: Sir Keir Starmer and Baroness Eluned Morgan on a visit to a wind farm in Wales last year. Pic: PA
Baroness Morgan said Westminster welfare reform proposals were causing “serious concern” in Wales where there is “a higher number of people reliant on disability benefits than elsewhere”.
She called for “respect for devolution” which was “hard won, deeply rooted and absolutely non-negotiable”.
“That means that the UK government should never act in devolved areas without Welsh government consent,” she said.
“We’re not happy that this is continuing under Labour.”
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Turning her sights to next May’s elections – when Wales will elect 96 members for the first time – Baroness Morgan said the vote would be a “battle for the future of Wales”.
She said the rise of Reform UK in many parts of the country has “put the whole shape of the future of Wales at stake” – and she accused Nigel Farage’s party of wanting to “use Wales to make a point in the English press”.
Responding to the speech, a Reform UK spokesperson said Welsh Labour was “more focused on slogans than solutions” and had “failed to deliver meaningful change for the people of Wales”.
Image: Eluned Morgan in the Senedd chamber. Pic: Senedd Commission
Making several references to comedy series Gavin & Stacey, the first minister said there would be “times when what’s right for Essex, is not right for Barry”.
She said “a vote for Plaid risks letting Reform take power” and added that Welsh Labour was the “one true party of Wales” – but Plaid Cymru accused her of a “desperate attempt” to “reset her premiership”.
First minister parks Labour bus on Plaid ground
With calls for a “fair deal” for Wales, the first minister has parked the Labour bus firmly on Plaid territory.
While Welsh Labour has always been, in the FM’s own words, “proudly distinct”, so many of the statements made in today’s speech could have been by a Plaid Cymru leader.
But instead, they were the words of the Welsh Labour leader – an effort, perhaps, to appeal to soft Welsh nationalists, those who may not back independence outright but would consider voting for Plaid Cymru.
She even made reference to Tryweryn – when the Welsh village of Capel Celyn was flooded in 1965 to supply water to Liverpool – a moment which has long been a symbol of the nationalist movement in Wales.
The Labour Party has won the most votes in Welsh elections for more than 100 years – a point Baroness Morgan was keen to emphasise.
But the significance of her intervention, where she called out some of Keir Starmer’s more unpopular polices, shows she’s acutely aware of the very real threat posed by both Plaid and Reform UK to her party’s continued electoral success.
It comes off the back of last week’s local election results in England, and with polls showing a surge in support for Reform in Wales too.
With only a year to go until the Senedd election, the question now is whether Baroness Eluned Morgan can get any concessions from her Westminster colleagues, or whether the “change” that Labour promised will mean a change of government in Wales.
During the 49-minute speech, Baroness Morgan also called for further funding to make Wales’s coal tips safer, a “fair share” of the Clean Steel Fund to support the country’s steel communities, and the devolution of the Crown Estate.
She also said that the Barnett Formula, which decides how much money Wales receives from Westminster, is “outdated” and “needs to change”.
“Solidarity has to work both ways. It’s time for a funding system that recognises our needs, respects our people and reflects our reality,” she added.
Speaking of Welsh Labour’s relationship with the Westminster party going forward, Baroness Morgan said her government would work “with the UK government” on issues where they agree but would “hold [their] ground” where they don’t.
But she added: “I am proudly married to my nation and I’m going to put my nation first, ahead of the extended family.
“It’s nation and the people of Wales before party for me.”
Two men have been arrested after a customer was stabbed to death inside a Lloyds bank.
The victim – a man in his 30s – was attacked at the branch in St Peter’s Street, Derby, at around 2.35pm on Tuesday.
He was pronounced dead at the scene, Derbyshire Police said.
A man in his 40s has been arrested on suspicion of murder, while another man in his 30s is being held on suspicion of assisting an offender. Both remain in police custody.
They were detained around 6pm at the same property in Western Road, Normanton.
Detective Inspector Tony Owen said: “No one else was hurt and while the investigation is at an early stage, at this time we are treating it as an isolated incident.”
The victim has not yet been formally identified, but police said his family had been made aware.
“Good luck, because it’s a shithole here,” a prisoner shouts as we walk around the grounds at HMP Foston Hall.
Other inmates described this women’s prison in Derbyshire as a “holiday camp”, even “rehab”.
There was no one homogenous view, but there is also not one type of prisoner here – it is home to both murderers and shoplifters.
We’ve come to talk to people ahead of the publication of the sentencing review in the coming days. It’s likely to recommend the scrapping of short sentences for some lower-level crimes, and suggest prison isn’t the best place to punish certain “vulnerable” groups of offenders, including women.
“My kind of theft, I nick chocolate from shops,” inmate Connie Parsons told us as we gathered in her cell.
She’s been convicted of shoplifting nine times and says she’s been in and out of prison since she was 15 years old.
“I normally only get four weeks, three weeks, two weeks. It’s a constant cycle of going out, committing crime,” she said.
Image: Connie has a teenage son but hasn’t seen him for years
At points, Parsons has been homeless and addicted to drugs.
“I used to just come to prison before to have a little lie down and get myself well… to keep myself safe,” she said. “But this prison, you’re not safe… I never self-harmed before I came to this prison. And now I self-harm quite a lot.”
She has a young teenage son on the outside. “I know this might sound harsh, but I think it’s got to the point now I don’t know what to miss about him. But I think about him every single day,” she said.
‘For lots of women, prison is the right place to be’
We put Parsons’ case to the prisons minister, Lord Timpson, who said it was “really sad to hear”, adding he sees “lots of people like Connie” in the prison system.
Pressed on how some will view Parsons as a repeat offender, perhaps deserving of prison, Lord Timpson said: “For lots of women, prison is the right place to be, but where there are certain circumstances, for example non-violent offences for women… you need to work out what is the right path to make sure they don’t commit further crime.”
Lord Timpson said for someone like Parsons, he’d like to see the use of an intensive supervision court or as he called it “problem-solving court”. These work by judges monitoring the progress of offenders on community sentences, offering “wraparound” support, including housing, help for addiction issues and mental health.
Image: Tilat Ajmal served less than three months
Prisoner leaves with jail on her CV
“I had a job, I ain’t got a job now,” said Tilat Ajmal.
Before she went to prison, Ajmal worked for the NHS as a cleaner for 18 years.
As we filmed, she was leaving jail after serving less than three months for smuggling an item into prison while visiting someone. It was her first offence.
Her bags were packed, and in them was a CV she’d prepared. But she didn’t seem hopeful.
“I think it’s a bit bad having a conviction, I’ve been working all my life,” she said.
“As soon as coming out of them gates, I think you just have hundreds and thousands of things going through your head.”
‘Just enough time to rip their lives apart’
After we filmed at the prison, Sky News joined a support session at a women’s centre in Nottingham. It offers mandatory services to people serving sentences in the community, and also those on probation or licence periods.
I asked a case worker to explain why certain women offenders should be considered unique in the criminal justice system.
“I think what happens when a man goes to prison is that there is usually a woman holding everything together,” said Rachel Strong.
“He will be released from prison, his home will still be there, his family. He may have lost his job but there will be someone there. He will come out to his support network in place.
“That woman is that support network – so when she goes to prison, there’s nobody holding that together. People will lose their homes, sometimes their children are taken into care.
“Usually when women are sent to prison it’s for short sentences. Not enough time for anything productive, just enough time to rip their lives apart.”
Image: Donna Pritchards
‘It’s like rehab’
“I don’t mind prison, it’s like rehab,” said Donna Pritchards, who has been to HMP Foston Hall three times.
“I know you get clean when you’re here, and I needed it.”
Drugs are ‘main issue’ in prison
Others told us it was “easy” to get hold of drugs inside jail, with one prisoner describing some leading a “life of luxury”, with jail being like a “holiday camp”.
Amanda Brewer, drug strategy lead, told us: “Illicit drugs are our main issue day to day in everything that we do.
“They’re the main drivers for violence, they can cause self-harm issues, they cause vulnerability.”
Prisoners are also “trading” prescription drugs between one another.
‘Prison is not a nice place to be’
As the government explores greater use of alternatives to custody and scrapping certain short prison sentences, I asked the prisons minister whether criminals might see their approach as a “soft touch”.
“Prison is not a nice place to be,” said Lord Timpson, “but they need to turn their lives around there.”
The government commissioned the sentencing review alongside the creation of the Women’s Justice Board because they have an overcrowding crisis across the prison estate. But they also fundamentally believe prison isn’t the best form of punishment for certain types of offenders.
Women offenders in England and Wales are likely to be disproportionately impacted by the recommendations made in the review.
That’s because we expect it to suggest the scrapping of certain short sentences. In 2022, the Prison Reform Trust found over half (58%) of terms given to women were for less than six months.
Women are also considered by ministers to be a “vulnerable” group, with prison having a knock-on impact on their lives and potential for reoffending. Many report being a victim of crimes like domestic abuse, and 55% of female prisoners are mothers.
After two days of rare and unique access to different parts of the criminal justice system, it’s clear many feel prison isn’t working for female offenders. But what exactly a greater use of alternatives to custody looks like will take some time to figure out.
New portraits of the King and Queen, commissioned to commemorate their coronation in 2023, have been unveiled.
The two separate full-length paintings of Charlesand Camilla were made by artists Peter Kuhfeld and Paul Benny, respectively.
Image: Pic: Reuters
The artists were personally chosen by the King and Queen, who were joined at the unveiling by Camilla’s daughter Laura Lopes.
Mr Kuhfeld, who has known the monarch for more than 40 years, added he hopes his depiction of Charles captured both “the man and the King”.
Mr Benny also said about the Queen: “She said nothing but wonderful things about it, more importantly Laura liked it – you know when the kids like it, you’re probably on the right track.”
Image: Pics: PA
Their portraits will be hung in the National Gallery until 5 June, before moving to their permanent home in Buckingham Palace’s Throne Room.