Plaid Cymru Westminster Leader Liz Saville Roberts MP has accused Labour of “hypocrisy” and ”cynical manipulation”, as Treasury documents reveal that the proportion of funding allocated to Wales arising from transport funding in England is further decreasing under Labour.

Rachel Reeves’ Budget included announcements for English rail, such as the TransPennine Route Upgrade, the Oxford-Cambridge line, and the HS2 extension from Old Oak Common to London Euston. However, the Chancellor made no announcements regarding Welsh rail investment.

Ms Roberts said that Labour were “hitting the brakes on Welsh rail while England speeds ahead”.

While the devolved governments of Scotland and Northern Ireland each receive transport funding based on a 95.6% comparability factor under the Barnett formula, Wales’ comparability factor for transport has shrunk drastically – from 80.9% in 2015 to 36.6% in 2021, and now to 33.5% in 2024.

The ballooning amount spent on England’s HS2 project is largely to blame for this change, which results in additional funding for Scotland and Northern Ireland, but not to Wales.

Ms Roberts highlighted that in 2022, Labour’s then-Shadow Secretary of State for Wales described the classification of HS2 as an ‘England and Wales’ project as “utterly illogical”, comparing it with London’s Crossrail project, which did lead to additional funding for Wales.

Yet, now as Secretary of State, Ms Stevens has not supported calls to correct the Treasury’s formula, with the situation in fact deteriorating even further.

Ms Roberts said: “Labour has gone from criticising the Tories for short-changing Wales on rail funding in 2022 to actively make the situation worse in 2024. Under Rachel Reeves, the Treasury's cynical manipulation of the funding formula has further deteriorated.

“The decrease in the share of rail funding going to Wales is due to the ever-increasing cost of England’s HS2, which rightly leads to extra cash for Scotland and Northern Ireland, but not to Wales.

“When Jo Stevens, the Secretary of State for Wales, was in opposition, she described the situation as ‘utterly illogical.’

“Yet, Labour is using the very same illogical tactic to deprive Wales of funding. It smacks of hypocrisy.

“Despite ample opportunities to rectify this injustice, the Labour government has chosen to ignore Welsh rail in this Budget. Labour is hitting the brakes on Welsh rail while England speeds ahead, further eroding the Welsh rail funding settlement. Despite promising change, it is clear that Labour is just as indifferent to our needs as their predecessors.”