Welsh Labour call for devolution of Crown Estate

Local TV

It’s been a point of contention between UK and Welsh Labour for some time, and at the recent Welsh Labour Conference, calls to devolve the Crown Estate got louder as they look to claw back support after some poor polling results.

Transcript

00:00Welsh Labour held an annual conference on the weekend, with Prime Minister Sakeir Starmer

00:06making an appearance as Welsh Labour's most recent polling figures show worrying

00:10signs for a party so used to governing in Wales.

00:14It shows Labour in third behind both Plaid Cymru and Reform UK, as they say they want

00:18to turn prospective voters back to Welsh Labour, but a number of cross-border issues might

00:22get in the way.

00:23It's the official policy of Welsh Labour to devolve Crown of State powers to Wales,

00:28but UK Labour have recently voted that proposal down, saying the landscape of the Crown Estate

00:33across England and Wales is stronger together.

00:36It's not gone down well inside Labour, who have revisited the calls at the conference

00:40in Llandidno, as they seek to wrangle the powers from Westminster and, as they argue, give Wales

00:46the additional funding it needs and deserves.

00:50Crown Estate powers, which include hundreds of miles of seabed around the country, as

00:53well as properties and land, is already devolved in Scotland, which has added hundreds of millions

00:58to Scottish coffers, but that has not been the case in Wales.

01:03It will continue to be an issue for Welsh Labour as they aim to claw back support in the next

01:0712 months before an upcoming Senate election.

01:10At the conference, Sir Keir Starmer also said on proposed welfare reforms that the system

01:15needed to be fixed in the Labour way, with opposition parties as well as a number of Labour

01:20revels saying the reforms would bring thousands of disabled people into poverty.

01:25As First Minister and Welsh Labour leader Aline Edmorgan said at the conference, Welsh Labour

01:30have been taking Wales for granted, so the party will be hoping that they can use this

01:34as a springboard and quell the very real threat of Plaid Cymru and Reform UK posed to their

01:39historic dominance.

01:41I'm Chris Watkins reporting for Local TV.

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