Red Welsh way

Eluned Morgan says Wales is at a crossroads, and it’s a battle that will resonate across the UK

Journalists who are usually London-based and London-focused are turning up on our patch more and more frequently. For years, there has been no interest in the radical and progressive steps we have uniquely been progressing in our nation, but before our elections in May we hope that we will have a chance to demonstrate beyond Wales how we are changing lives for the better, and that all this is under threat by a Reform challenge which should matter to everyone in the UK.

People ask what we are doing in the Welsh Government. And my simple answer is that we are getting things done! The practical day-to-day things that make a difference to people’s lives.

From the day I started as First Minister, I made it clear I wanted to make positive changes, tangible differences – grounded in our values, Welsh Labour values.  That approach is at the centre of my leadership – getting things done.

We faced an uphill struggle in the Caerphilly by-election. People are hurting. They want change that feels real and immediate. We must listen to that message – not just hear it, but truly listen – and respond with humility and urgency. 

Plaid Cymru’s strong showing is a clear challenge. They are positioning themselves as an alternative, but their pursuit of independence risks being distracted from the everyday issues that matter most: jobs, healthcare, and education. Their agenda could bring economic uncertainty, putting public services and investment at risk. We must fight to regain the trust of communities we’ve represented for years and build a coalition of voters that can return us to power. 

While Reform did not win, their share of the vote was significant. Many voters saw Plaid as the best option to stop them. That’s a wake-up call for us in both the Welsh and UK Labour Governments.  

My first action when I took up this role was to travel across Wales unannounced, literally rocking up in towns and villages to ask a wide range of people about their priorities. What would make a difference to them? What they needed to really thrive. I listened to them, heard what they were saying, and their priorities have been my government’s priorities since then.

We recognise that people are feeling disillusioned with politicians, and that our Welsh Labour voice, that’s always fought for them, is being drowned out by those offering false promises.

Reform has spent the last few weeks trying to divide us; feeding hostility, feeding uncertainty. Promising massive cuts in taxes but carefully not making the connection with the huge reduction in the services that can be offered to the public, with the inevitable fallout in terms of hospital closures and cuts to school funding.

At the same time, while we want to work within the UK political structures whilst proudly standing up for Wales, Plaid Cymru wants to tear it apart. Independence may not be on their leaflets, but it’s part of their vision. They are also indulging in fantasy economics, often offering policies with which we would not necessarily disagree, but which would mean cuts to other services. They constantly fail to point out what those cuts look like.

Both parties shout from the sidelines, talking Wales down and always blaming others – not offering solutions. In the meantime, we in Welsh Labour are working to help communities thrive. We use the powers of devolution to build a nation that doesn’t just reflect our values but fights for them every single day, through what we call the Red Welsh Way. It revolves around three principles: equality, security and community. But they aren’t just slogans; we turn them into actions that affect lives.

Every primary school child in Wales now gets a free school dinner because children can’t learn if they are hungry. There are free prescriptions for all and free buses for older people.

Our values mean that we pay the Real Living Wages to care workers, we have stopped companies from profiteering from children’s care, and we are the first country in the world to have a law protecting future generations.

I am standing up for Wales in everything I do. We in the Welsh Government are working with the UK Government, and that has resulted in the biggest financial settlement from the Treasury since devolution.

That has enabled us to put extra money into the NHS to get waiting lists down. It’s working, with the number of people waiting more than two years now 88% lower than at its peak.

The Labour UK Government has also given money to help us improve transport links to help people get to work, and millions more to help make safe the many coal tips across industrial Wales. When Labour governs in Cardiff and Westminster, there is scope to deliver more, and let’s be clear, I will always be asking for more.   

We are really proud to be a part of a wide Labour movement involving our two governments, local authorities, our trade unions and other stakeholder groups.

But when UK Government policies don’t work for people in Wales because of the disproportionate impact on us – or simply because we disagree, I call it out.

I did that around the issue of Welfare Reform and winter fuel allowance, and I have called for the scrapping of the Tory two-child benefit cap. We have also been consistent in arguing in favour of the devolution of the Crown Estate. It is important to me that the people of Wales benefit directly from the profits from green energy, from our natural assets of wind, sea and sun, so we can reinvest that money into services in Wales.  

Our Red Welsh Way is about building a better Wales. Flags are flapping across our nations of the UK. Some use the flag to divide us, but we don’t. We are proud of the Welsh flag, and I want to invite anyone who calls Wales home to find shelter in our flag’s pleats.

The Welsh election in May marks a turning point. The process around the elections is also changing with a new proportional electoral system, merged constituencies with multiple members and votes for sixteen-year-olds.

Voting will be about the kind of Wales we want to live in. One of optimism, ambition and hope or one of division, suspicion and hate?

There is a lot at risk. So much that we have built over decades, that we rely on in day-to-day life, could disappear. When the Welsh Labour Government sets its budget, it makes political choices about what it will fund. Things that we rely on, like free prescriptions, free parking at hospitals, and so much more, are political choices. Other parties may well not fund them, consigning them to the history books.

In the spirit of our Red Welsh Way, we must now present a more powerful vision for our nation which speaks to the Wales we know we can be.  

Welsh Labour is at our best when we come together, steady ourselves, do the hard work and stand up for Wales. As Welsh Labour Leader and First Minister, I’m ready and up for the fight.