Starmer to warn of ‘backroom stitch-up' in Welsh elections
In a speech to the Welsh Labour conference, the Prime Minister is set to say that a coalition of those parties would be a 'return to the chaos and division of the last decade' and risk rolling back the progress his party is starting to make.
Welsh First Minister Baroness Eluned Morgan meanwhile will call next year's polls a 'moment of reckoning' and 'serious threat' as Reform UK is 'rising' and Plaid Cymru 'mobilising'.
And Labour will announce funding to help those made redundant by the Tata Steel closure in Port Talbot.
Reform UK is eyeing an opportunity to end Labour's 26 years of domination in the Welsh Parliament at the Senedd elections in May next year.
Labour performed poorly in this year's local elections in England, which saw Nigel Farage's party win a swathe of council seats.
Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch has not ruled out making deals with Plaid Cymru or Reform at the next Senedd election.
Welsh Labour leader Baroness Morgan will say the election is not going to be a 'routine affair'.
She will add: 'It will be a moment of reckoning. Reform are rising. Plaid are mobilising. And across the country, people are asking big, serious questions about the kind of future they want for Wales.
'This is not a moment to look away. This is the moment to look forward – a moment of maximum opportunity and, yes, also of serious threat. It's time to stand up. It's time to get involved.'
The conference in Llandudno comes on the heels of Sir Keir's U-turn on welfare policy to avert a major backbench rebellion that will leave Chancellor Rachel Reeves facing a scramble to fill a potential hole in her budget this autumn.
Ahead of marking a year in office next week, Sir Keir will point to moves his Government has made since the election that he says bring direct benefits to Wales, including international trade deals that give a boost to brands such as Penderyn whisky and legislation to bolster workers' rights.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer praised Wales's First Minister Baroness Eluned Morgan (Andy Buchanan/PA)
Wales Secretary Jo Stevens is set to announce a new £11 million fund for businesses offering skilled employment in Port Talbot as it seeks to help those left unemployed by Tata Steel's closure of the steelworks.
The fund is made up of £6.78 million from the Government and £5 million from Tata Steel.
'The Tories abandoned our steelworkers. Reform want to cancel the Electric Arc Furnace, throw away 5,000 jobs, and send people back down the mines.
'We have the backs of our steelworkers, their families and local businesses,' Ms Stevens will say.
Sir Keir will tout the advantages of having parallel Labour governments in Westminster and Wales, with Baroness Morgan leading the latter as a 'fierce champion'.
'This is the party that has got wages rising faster in the first 10 months than the Tories managed in 10 years. This is the government that is cutting bills and creating jobs. This is the movement that will rebuild Britain and renew Wales,' Sir Keir is expected to say.
Labour is the party with the 'interests of working people at their heart' and 'it always will be', he will say.
'Or, there's the other option. The risk of rolling back all the progress we're beginning to make. A return to the chaos and division of the last decade.
'A backroom stitch-up between the Tories, Reform and Plaid. And once again, it will be working families left to pick up the bill.
'Whether that's with Reform, or with Plaid's determination to cut Wales off from the rest of the country – with no plan to put Wales back together.'
The Conservatives have said that Labour has 'let Wales down for far too long'.
Shadow Welsh secretary Mims Davies said: 'Divisions between a complacent Welsh Labour and Starmer's failing UK Government in Westminster have simply not improved Wales's outlook, despite the fabled benefit of two Labour Governments in Wales, which is absolute bunkum.'
She also added: 'Labour has let Wales down for too long, taken people for granted and now the PM is making a mess of the entire United Kingdom.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BBC News
an hour ago
- BBC News
Keir Starmer and Eluned Morgan give speeches at Welsh Labour conference
Update: Date: 09:52 BST Title: Watch Eluned Morgan and Sir Keir Starmer live Content: You can watch Welsh First Minister Eluned Morgan and Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer address their party members using the stream above. Both speeches are taking place at Welsh Labour conference on Saturday.
The Independent
2 hours ago
- The Independent
‘You have to fight tooth and nail': PIP claimants tell of struggle to get awarded as Labour accused of making it harder
Sarah has just found out that she will likely be able to keep her Personal Independence Payment (PIP) after months of worry. The 40-year-old mother-of-one works from home, which allows her to juggle life with being a new parent and her disabilities. Chronic fatigue syndrome in her joints means she regularly experiences brain fog and exhaustion, and needs help. And it's her PIP that makes this possible, helping her to afford a carer, stay in work and spend time with her baby. Claimed by 3.7 million people, the health-linked benefit at the heart of Labour's proposed welfare reforms is designed to help with extra costs incurred by living with an illness or disability. The government's concessions on plans to cut welfare spending now mean that Sarah won't be subject to stricter eligibility criteria when next assessed for the benefit. Instead, from November 2026, only new claimants look set to be subject to the tighter criteria, under Labour's bill going through Parliament. But Sarah says she is struggling to see this as a victory. 'If there's another Sarah who's born a few years later, and ended up in this situation, it's still just as appalling,' she says. 'It's encouraging some disabled people to throw other disabled people under the bus. And it's vicious, because it relies on some people being scared enough to say 'well, we'll take what we can get'.' And like so many others, Sarah did not find applying for PIP an easy process to begin with. 'It feels really deliberate' 'It feels like you're being tripped up constantly,' Sarah says. 'It feels really deliberate, how difficult it is. It feels extremely deliberate. Because there are so many ways it can be made more accessible to disabled people.' Halfway through her assessment for PIP, Sarah's infant daughter started to cry in the other room. This caused her to panic, and she shouted to her husband that the baby might need changing. Because of this 'the assessor said I was clearly able to respond to my daughter's needs and assess what she needed,' Sarah says. 'But I said to him I can't care for my daughter on my own, I rely on other people doing that for me. I need somebody with me while I'm with her.' None of this was included in his report, she claims. And it's not just Sarah. Ginny's husband Tim was diagnosed with myotonic muscular dystrophy in 2006, a progressive genetic condition that affects muscles and movement. The mother-of-two works part-time while also caring for her husband full-time. His PIP award means means Ginny is entitled to a £200 Carers Allowance, which she says is essential to support her family. 'Tim doesn't like to admit it, but people frequently can't understand what he says. Every day I'm asking him to repeat himself as his wife, and I know him well,' Ginny explains. 'He was asked to repeat himself at least five times during the assessment. But when it came to the report, it said the assessor had no problem understanding him.' Ginny says the assessor also wrote down that Tim was managing to work part-time for 25 hours as a library assistant. He was actually working just 25 hours a month, just over six hours a week, Ginny says. 'Do you have a dog?' At a PIP assessment, the assessor will decide if an applicant has limited ability to carry out daily living activities. They do this by asking applicants to carry out a range of activities, awarding them points based on how limited their ability is. According to one former assessor, opening questions might include: 'How are you doing today? How did you get here? Do you have a dog?' An applicant could be forgiven for thinking these questions are just small talk, their PIP assessor being friendly and trying to ease them into the process. But in most cases, the assessment has already begun, the former worker says. How they answer these questions could be the difference between a lifeline to pay for their health-related costs or nothing. The former assessor, who wished to remain anonymous, said this approach is standard for PIP assessors. It is permitted under the DWP 's PIP assessment guide, which recommends assessors carry out 'informal observations' that may 'show discrepancies'. 'As soon as you say to them, 'I'm here to do the assessment, is that OK?' and they say yes, it's started,' she explains. 'And then you'll comment, you'll look around the room for photographs of them on holiday, of children. You're looking for evidence that they're not telling the truth.' According to polling by disability charity Sense, over half (51 per cent) of disabled people with complex needs report feeling humiliated during benefits assessment. A further 45 per cent said the process made their symptoms worse. The charity's policy adviser, Evan John, said: 'I think sometimes when you hear some of the discussion around PIP, somebody might think that it was an easy benefit to claim, but that experience is really divorced from the experiences of disabled people.' 'We'd like to see a system that treats disabled people with dignity, that assess people fairly, but doesn't make them feel like criminals for trying to access the support they need.' 'You have to fight tooth and nail' Neither Sarah nor Tim were awarded any points at their PIP assessment. Instead, they asked for a mandatory consideration, but were turned down and faced a lengthy wait for an appeal at a tribunal. 'We went to mandatory consideration fully aware that they would just turn that down because that seems to be the standard with them,' Ginny says. 'But that was just a step to go to appeal.' Sarah was only given the lowest rate of PIP after tribunal, while Tim was awarded his in light of more medical evidence. Around 56 per cent of PIP assessments resulted in a reward between 2019 and 2024. But around two-thirds of decisions are overturned at the tribunal stage, independent of the DWP, by a panel of decision-makers including a judge. 'You have to fight tooth and nail,' Ginny says. 'All the government's talk about 'people just are getting this too easily' or 'supporting people who have the most severe conditions'. 'In my book, my husband has a severe condition and it just feels like they're redefining disability to suit themselves.' It remains to be seen whether the government's concessions over its welfare plans will be enough to appease wavering backbenchers with MPs set to vote on the measures on Tuesday. A DWP spokesperson said: 'The fact is that PIP assessment suppliers and healthcare professionals are involved in the process but are only one part of the evidence used – they have no role in the decision-making process, and are clearly instructed not to base their opinions solely on the situation seen at assessment. 'We're creating a sustainable welfare system that genuinely supports sick and disabled people while always protecting those who need it most, and at the heart of this is our review of the PIP assessment to ensure it is fit for the future. 'We will work with disabled people and a range of experts on this as we deliver our Plan for Change.'
Daily Mirror
2 hours ago
- Daily Mirror
Wrexham owner and Hollywood star files documents to officially change his name
Wrexham FC co-owner Rob McElhenney's wife and his It's Sunny in Philadelphia co-star Kaitlin Olson claimed the couple's kids are not in favour of the name change Wrexham FC co-owner Rob McElhenney has filed documents to legally change his name. The It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia star, whose character in the show is known as Mac, wants to be known .by the name Rob Mac in real-life, according to documents filed in Los Angeles. The shortened versions of his first and last names are a far cry from his full title of Robert McElhenney III. He first mentioned his intention to change his name in an interview with US outlet Variety in May, telling them: 'As our business and our storytelling is expanding into other regions of the world and other languages in which my name is even harder to pronounce, I'm just going by Rob Mac. McElhenney's wife and It's Sunny in Philadelphia co-star Kaitlin Olson has said the couple's kids are not in favour of the change and suggested she is also concerned about it. She said: 'The kids are really not happy about it because they have that last name. And so do I, legally!'. He launched private company 'More Better Industries' in 2024, and was part owner of Philadelphia bar 'Mac's Tavern,' which announced Monday it was closing after 15 years in business. McElhenney, 48, and fellow Hollywood actor Ryan Reynolds, 48, bought Wrexham football club in 2021. They have since been credited with a 50 per cent surge in visitors to the Welsh city after charting the club's rise to the Championship on Disney+ series Welcome to Wrexham. The show is a big hit in the US, where last month alone more than 300,000 people searched for Wrexham content on internet site Reddit. Tourism chiefs say it is part of the set-jet trend inspired by what people see on TV.
