Heledd Fychan Canol De Cymru - South Wales Central

Responding to comments made by the Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Mark Drakeford, on Radio Wales and Radio Cymru this morning (Thursday 12th June 2025), Plaid Cymru’s Heledd Fychan has slammed the Welsh Government’s “incompetence” for failing to secure a better deal on rail compared to the billions that English cities and regions will receive.

During the Comprehensive Spending Review yesterday (Wednesday 11^th June 2025), the Chancellor of the Exchequer outlined billions for rail projects across England:

• £2.5bn for Greater Manchester
• £2.4bn for West Midlands
• £2.1bn for West Yorkshire
• £2.0bn for East Midlands
• £1.6bn for Liverpool City Region

Wales received just £445m – despite being owed £4bn from HS2, the wider historic underinvestment in Welsh rail infrastructure, and the hundreds of millions denied to Wales following the re-classification of the Oxford-Cambridge line.

Mark Drakeford MS admitted on Radio Cymru that English cities and regions had prepared plans and staff to carry out rail infrastructure improvements, and that Wales is only on the “first step”. He also admitted that Welsh Government only requested £118m for Coal Tips safety despite estimating remedial costs at approximately £600m.

Ms Fychan questioned why the Labour Welsh Government wasn’t better prepared on developing rail infrastructure plans after 26 years in power – stating that its lack of urgency and ambition will now mean that Welsh communities are missing out.

Plaid Cymru spokesperson for Finance, Heledd Fychan MS said:

“This is pure incompetence from the Labour Welsh Government. By Drakeford's own admission, Wales received a worse deal than English regions and cities because Labour in Wales simply asked for less. You just can't make it up.

"What’s Labour been doing over the past 26 years they’ve been in power here in Wales? For over 14 years, we were consistently told how different things would be once we had a UK Labour government but why weren’t the Welsh government using that time to prepare? And where's the urgency now to ensure that their 'partners in power' address the historic underfunding of Wales and its railways, and cough up all the funds needed to make coal tips safe? Yet again, Wales loses out because of Labour's lack of ambition, and who pays the price? Our communities.

"A Plaid Cymru government would be relentless in demanding Wales gets every penny its owed - and never settle for less."