First minister accused of 'building scaffolding' for independent Wales

The first minister's speech calling for more powers for Wales came under fire from all sides in the Senedd on Tuesday.

Last week Eluned Morgan warned that May's Senedd election could lead to the break-up of the UK, calling for more powers to stop that from happening.

The Conservatives' Darren Millar claimed Morgan wanted to build the "scaffolding" for an independent Wales and was trying to "out nationalist the nationalists".

Meanwhile Plaid Cymru leader Rhun ap Iorwerth said the UK home secretary's outright rejection of the devolution of policing showed Morgan was powerless.

Morgan said she was standing up for Wales and was "not interested in policing... as a journey to independence".

Shabana Mahmood's stance against devolution was also criticised by Labour politicians.

A former legal advisor to the Welsh government, Labour's Mick Antoniw, told the BBC that the home secretary's views were "not evidence based, and facile".

Morgan called for her UK government colleagues to devolve more powers to the Senedd and the Welsh government, warning pro-independence parties like Plaid Cymru could win the next Senedd election.

Millar told the Senedd it was the "height of hypocrisy for you to now warn the public about the dangers of Plaid, when you have been working hand-in glove with them, running Wales, for years".

He accused Morgan of "playing to Plaid Cymru's agenda".

"By constantly demanding more powers and more control over issues such as policing and justice, you're actually building the scaffolding for the very break-up of the United Kingdom that you claim to want to defend."

"The truth of the matter is this: Labour and Plaid Cymru are two cheeks of the same miserable face," she said.

Eluned Morgan told Millar she would not apologise for the deal the Welsh government had agreed with Plaid Cymru to get its budget through the Senedd, due to be voted on Tuesday evening.

"Labour is the party of devolution. Plaid is the party of independence. There's the difference."

She said her speech at the Institute for Government last week set out "what Wales needs. It wasn't just re-arguing the past".

Among her requests was for the devolution of policing - giving the Senedd and the Welsh government powers to control the service.

Asked by Plaid MP Liz Saville Roberts if her policing reforms could bring that about, the home secretary said in the Commons on Monday: "No, I do not."

Rhun ap Iorwerth said he struggled "to work out which is worse - the blatant disregard towards Wales shown by Labour MPs, or the Labour Welsh government's sheer inability to influence their Westminster colleagues".

She accused the Labour UK government's home secretary of not even trying "to hide its disdain towards Wales and the devolution process".

Morgan said her government was "not interested in policing to be devolved as a journey to independence, we're interested in making sure that it's about responding to the needs of people within our communities".

Ap Iorwerth accused Morgan of being "powerless" over UK government ministers, before saying a comment by a Welsh Labour MP suggesting devolution would not happen because they did not know who might win the May election was "shameful" and "transparent".

Morgan said: "Look, my focus is not on the UK government, my focus is on delivering for the people of Wales."

On Monday Shabana Mahmood presented a blue-print for reforming policing across England and Wales, which could see the number of local forces in England and Wales cut by about two-thirds.

Former counsel general and MS for Pontypridd Mick Antoniw said the home secretary's comments showed a "gross failure to properly engage with Wales".

"The argument isn't over. The proposals are for consultation and we must overturn this ill thought out knee-jerk response."

He told BBC Wales: "It disregards the views of all the elected police and crime commissioners. There is work to be done."

Labour's Blaenau Gwent MS, Alun Davies, later told the Senedd he was "profoundly disappointed".

"Wales is the only country in the United Kingdom that is unable to control its own police force," he said, adding there were English cities that had more authority.

The UK government has vowed to speak to the Welsh government about how it will replace the police and crime commissioners in Wales once their terms end in 2028 and their posts are scrapped.

One Labour source suggested the way the white paper on policing had been written there was a "flexibility" to have a debate on the subject of who runs policing - even if the UK government has no intention of devolving the service.

The source also said the home secretary was also unlikely to be positive towards a Plaid Cymru MP.

How forces merge will be the subject of an independent review.

In a statement Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice Jane Hutt said the Welsh government's position was that no police force "should operate across both sides of the Anglo-Welsh border".

She said work to decide how Welsh forces are governed at a local level after PCCs are scrapped would "build on what currently works well and strengthen the devolution settlement".

Hutt called for a form of governance to be agreed before May's Senedd election, adding the long term goal remains to devolve policing.