Still a role for Welsh secretary, says first minister

There remains "a role" for the secretary of state for Wales, the first minister has said, after a former Welsh government minister said the post should be scrapped.

However, Eluned Morgan warned the position should be "the voice of Wales at the cabinet table" rather than "the UK government's voice in Wales".

Morgan's comments follow a fresh row over the UK government's approach to Welsh politics after a memo sent by the prime minister to his cabinet colleagues emerged on Tuesday.

Morgan said she had discussed the note with her Labour colleague Sir Keir Starmer on Wednesday.

It was sent in December, soon after several Labour Senedd backbenchers had written to the prime minister accusing him of "rolling back" devolution.

They claimed he was bypassing Welsh ministers by making funding decisions in areas where the Welsh government would normally be responsible, specifically by giving money directly to local authorities to pay for town centre improvements.

The prime minister's note was leaked to Plaid Cymru and was raised by the party's leader Rhun ap Iorwerth during Tuesday's First Minister's Questions.

On Wednesday the Welsh government's former top legal advisor and cabinet member, Mick Antoniw, described the memo as "underhand".

During an interview with BBC Radio Wales Breakfast, Antoniw also said the Wales Office - the secretary of state for Wales' department in Westminster - was a "pre-devolution setup" and that a Welsh secretary was no longer needed.

Asked about Antoniw's comments, by Plaid's Llyr Gruffydd on Friday, Morgan told a Senedd committee: "I think there's a role for the Wales Office."

She added that in areas where responsibility remains in Westminster there was a "strong case" for "having the voice of Wales at the cabinet table making the case for what the impact might be on Wales".

However, she also warned that "what I don't want to see is the Wales Office being used as the voice of the UK government in Wales".

"That is not how I see this role," she added.

Cardiff East MP Jo Stevens has been Welsh secretary since Labour's general election victory in July 2024.

The post was created by Harold Wilson's Labour government in 1964.

Morgan also told Senedd members on Friday that Welsh government ministers had direct relationships with their counterparts within the UK government and that they "don't go via the Wales Office".

Asked about the memo itself, Morgan said she had discussed it with the prime minister on Wednesday "to get clarification of what he meant".

She said that Sir Keir had "made it clear to me" that he was talking about direct investment in the devolved nations only in areas where the UK government remains responsible.

She added: "I've read the letter closely...It talks about direct spending, even when devolved governments may oppose this."

"I think there was an assumption that that meant in devolved areas, and that's not what it actually says."

Speaking after the committee session ended, Gruffydd said the first minister's explanation of the memo was "giving the UK government license to undermine devolution".

He added that Morgan was "in denial" over the Welsh secretary's role.