KEIR Starmer has broken his silence after he was accused of a “direct assault” on devolution in a row over a leaked memo.
The Prime Minister sent the document to all members of the UK Cabinet that the Government should be prepared to go against the wishes of devolved nations when making decisions about them.
Welsh pro-independence party Plaid Cymru released the memo on Tuesday, where Starmer said “we should be confident in our ability to deliver in those nations including through direct spending even when devolved governments may oppose this".
The SNP’s depute leader, Keith Brown, said the memo showed that the "muscular unionism of Boris Johnson isn't dead" but had been "rebranded" under the Labour Party.
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At PMQs on Wednesday, SNP MP Stephen Gethins raised the secret memo and forced Starmer, who had not previously commented, to respond.
The Arbroath and Broughty Ferry MP said: “Yesterday in the Welsh Senedd a secret Whitehall memo was called out by its members that showed this Government's attitude to devolution, a muscular unionism that Boris Johnson would have been proud of.
“So can I ask the Prime Minister, when Scottish and Welsh voters go to the polls, will he respect that decision?
“And furthermore, what is it about those elections that so seems to terrify him at the moment?”
Starmer replied: “I'm not going to make any apologies for spending more money in Scotland or in Wales to improve people's lives.
“There's been record investment under this Government into Scotland.”
In a jibe directed at First Minister John Swinney, Starmer added: “The question is, where has the money gone, John?”
We told how the memo from Starmer to his Cabinet colleagues stated that “each of us will maintain a professional and respectful working relationship with our counterparts in devolved governments” but that “an overly deferential or laissez-faire approach to devolved government engagement almost inevitably creates political challenges or misses positive opportunities”.
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“Early and extensive engagement,” with the Secretaries of State for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, Starmer added, "is the best way to avoid such challenges and make the most of the opportunities available to us".
And later on Wednesday, the issue was raised again in a point of order in the Commons by Plaid Cymru MP Liz Saville-Roberts, who asked deputy speaker Nusrat Ghani if the Government had sought to make a statement on the issue.
Responding, Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister Darren Jones said the UK Government takes the issues raised in the memo “seriously”, and described the Sewell Convention – the non-binding principle that the UK Government does not legislate in devolved areas – as “important”.
He added: “However, I will just remind the House that devolved governments are important, but in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland there are two governments, the UK Government and the devolved government, and that’s why we retain the right to deliver for the people of Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland, as well as in England.”
It comes after Labour were accused of "blatant political bias" earlier this year when it emerged the UK Government would decide how Scotland's £140 million growth fund would be spent while the Welsh Labour Government would control its allocation.
Plaid Cymru leader Rhun Ap Iorwerth raised the memo in the Senedd with the Labour Welsh First Minister Eluned Morgan.
"There we have it in black and white: Keir Starmer's own version of Boris Johnson's muscular unionism, not only dealing with devolution in bad faith, but undertaking a direct assault on the democratic views of devolved governments,” he said.
In reaction to the news, the chair of Welsh independence campaign group YesCymru said the memo was "deeply worrying for democracy in Wales".
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