Prime Minister Keir Starmer has used his keynote speech at the Welsh Labour conference to launch a fresh attack on Nigel Farage, accusing the Reform UK leader of 'taking people for fools' in Wales. Starmer criticised Farage’s recent visit to Port Talbot, where he demanded the reopening of coalmines to fuel the town’s shuttered steel blast furnaces, saying: 'Nigel Farage isn’t interested in Wales. He is interested in Nigel Farage.'
The prime minister also warned of a 'backroom stitch-up' between Plaid Cymru, the Conservatives and Reform UK ahead of next May’s Senedd elections, which he said would mark a 'return to the chaos and division of the last decade'. His comments come amid polls suggesting Labour could come third in Wales next year, with Reform UK potentially becoming the largest party in the Senedd.
Starmer’s appearance coincided with an escalating crisis over the government’s unpopular welfare bill, as Number 10 battles to win support from its own MPs. Acknowledging the row, Starmer said the welfare system was 'broken' and needed fixing 'in a Labour way', insisting: 'We cannot take away the safety net that vulnerable people rely on, and we won’t, but we also can’t let it become a snare for those who can and want to work.'
Responding to Starmer’s coalition warning, a Plaid Cymru spokesperson said: 'Labour has had decades to deliver for Wales. If this is Labour’s big pitch to the people of Wales, then frankly, they’re scraping the barrel.' Plaid Cymru has repeatedly ruled out working with the Conservatives or Reform UK.
First Minister Eluned Morgan, in her own keynote speech, welcomed the government’s U-turn on disability benefits reforms and called the next election 'a moment of reckoning'. She warned that Reform UK and Plaid Cymru are a threat to the NHS and 'the Welsh way of life'. Meanwhile, Labour MP Steve Witherden, who publicly criticised the welfare bill, said the government’s concessions were 'not enough'.
