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The Welsh first minister and leader of the Welsh Labour party has said she is “losing patience” with UK Labour and made it clear she is “tacking to the left” as she tries to counter a growing threat from Reform UK and Plaid Cymru.
Eluned Morgan told the Guardian she wanted Keir Starmer to rethink policy changes on welfare and the winter fuel allowance and described the Labour party as a “messy family”.
Morgan argued that while the UK party had time to turn its fortunes around, the task was more urgent in Wales because the Senedd elections were only a year away.
Speaking after a passionate speech launching the election campaign and what she called a “red Welsh way”, Morgan said: “We’ve got a year to go and I’m losing patience. They [UK Labour] are very keen for us to promote partnership in power. We are keen to play with them when it comes to partnership in power and it’s already delivered £1.6bn extra for our public services, but it’s not enough and we need to see more from them.
“And time is ticking for us. They’ve got time to turn things around. We have very little time to turn things around in Wales. So our patience is running out.
“I’m determined to make a change for the people of Wales and I haven’t got much time. I am impatient. I need things done. We’re tacking to the left here, we’re saying that we want to make sure that the centre of gravity in Wales is to the left.”
Morgan said there was no split with UK Labour but compared the party to a “messy family”. She said: “We all come from families that are complicated these days and we fall out within our families but we’re still family. We still turn up to each other’s weddings and funerals but in between there may be a bit of a falling out and that’s not the end of the world.”
As well as appealing to UK Labour to think again about welfare cuts and removing the winter fuel allowance, she called for the UK government not to interfere with areas of policy devolved to Wales.
She said: “What we need is respect for devolution. When the Tories were in charge, they disrespected the devolution settlement. We’re a bit concerned that’s continued under Labour. We need devolution to be respected because it was hard fought for and it is the settled will of the Welsh people.”
Morgan described Reform UK as “dangerous”. She said: “I think it is catching hold in some of our communities. I think there’s a danger that the left vote will split and will allow Reform in, which is why my appeal today is to the left in Wales is to say: these are our values. We have the red Welsh way, which is a more leftwing approach than the UK government approach.
“We are a party whose values sit further with the left and that’s why we’re standing up against things like those benefit cuts. I don’t think cuts is what’s going to get them back into the workplace.”
During an hour-long speech at the Norwegian church arts centre in Cardiff, Morgan repeatedly emphasised the “red Welsh way”, an echo of the former first minister Rhodri Morgan’s phrase “clear red water” when he described his relationship with Tony Blair’s Labour government.
She said: “We’ll be leaning into our red Welsh way of doing things. Red, the colour of our rugby and football shirts, the colour of our dragon, the colour of our party and our politics.”
Morgan said next year’s elections to the Welsh parliament were “a battle for the future of Wales”. She called Reform UK loud and showy. She said: “They provide an easy story because they’re new and they’re disruptive. They want to use Wales to make a point in the English press. Their leader, Farage, who’s on record as admiring Putin and sucking up to Trump, he’d happily dismantle our NHS and sell off our public services.
“Anyone tempted by Reform, my message to you is simple: come home to the party that built the NHS, that stands by our local councils, carers, health workers, teachers, pensioners and the working people of Wales.” She said a vote for Plaid risked letting Reform UK in.
During the speech, Morgan called Starmer a “serious person” who had “reset” the UK government’s relationship with the Welsh administration. But she added: “I am proudly married to my nation and I’m going to put my nation first, ahead of the extended family – nation and the people of Wales before party for me.”
