Eluned Morgan: Keir Starmer listening on Welsh funding needs

Ap Iorwerth accused Welsh Labour of failing to “stand up to its London masters and fight for Wales” by opposing UK government controversial plans to restrict winter fuel payments to all but the poorest pensioners.

“This isn’t standing up for Wales from the first minister, it’s keeling over and putting party again before country,” he said.

Morgan replied that she would “take responsibility for my actions here, and my responsibilities, but if you want to question Keir Starmer, you should have gone to Westminster”.

That was a reference to previous plans, later abandoned, for ap Iorwerth to stand to be an MP.

Earlier, Welsh Conservative Senedd leader Andrew RT Davies also raised winter fuel payments with her.

He said he hoped that when speaking to Rachel Reeves she had highlighted “the genuine anger” over the policy and told her “that she had made the wrong policy decision and how this will affect 400,000 pensioners here in Wales, and take £110m worth of benefits away from some of the most vulnerable people in our society”.

Morgan agreed “this is a really difficult, concerning time for a lot of pensioners in Wales” but added that the UK Labour government “has had to make some really difficult decisions”.

The first minister said that Brexit has meant “exports have collapsed from the United Kingdom” and the previous Conservative government led by Liz Truss had “pushed up interest rate payments”.

“All of these things happened, and now we’ve got to clear up the mess that you left,” she said.