Outrage as Oxford-Cambridge Rail Project Classed as “England & Wales”

• Wales Short-Changed Again as £6.6bn Rail Investment Project in the Home Counties Results in No Consequential Funding for Wales

The UK Government has confirmed that Wales will not receive Barnett consequentials from the £6.6 billion East-West Rail project between Oxford and Cambridge — a decision that has been slammed by the Welsh Liberal Democrats as yet another example of Labour short-changing Wales on vital infrastructure funding.

Despite the rail scheme being entirely in England, the Treasury has confirmed Wales will not receive Barnett consequentials from the project. Were Wales to be treated like Scotland, it could have received around £360 million in consequential funding to spend on transport projects in Wales.

The news that the project is to be classed as an ‘England and Wales’ scheme was uncovered in response to questions put forward by the Liberal Democrat MP for Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe David Chadwick.

The news follows the UK Government’s controversial handling of HS2 funding, where the £100 billion high-speed rail project — entirely based in England — was classified as an “England and Wales” project, resulting in no consequential funding for Wales at all.

In contrast, Scotland and Northern Ireland both received full funding uplifts.

Northern Powerhouse Rail, which will connect cities in the North of England has also previously been classified as an ‘England and Wales project” depriving Wales of up to £1bn in additional funding.

Independent experts, including the Senedd’s Finance Committee and academics at Cardiff University, have criticised the classifications, estimating that Wales lost out on over £4 billion as a result of HS2 alone — money that could have been invested in desperately needed upgrades to Welsh rail infrastructure.

Until the General Election, Labour had publicly backed Wales receiving the HS2 money it should have been paid if HS2 had been classified as an “England-only project”. Since Labour’s Welsh Secretary Jo Stevens has repeatedly told MPs that she is fighting for fairer rail funding and to wait for the spending review.

Responding to the news, Welsh Liberal Democrat Westminster Spokesperson David Chadwick MP said:

“This is HS2 all over again. Wales is being denied hundreds of millions in funding that could transform our own rail network, all because Labour insists on cooking the books and pretending these projects benefit Wales when they clearly do not.

“East-West Rail is between Oxford and Cambridge. Not a single centimetre of track will be laid in Wales. Yet Labour expects people across Wales to believe the ridiculous idea that this project will benefit them, and they are justified in not giving Wales the money it needs to improve our own public transport systems.

“It’s a disgrace, and it shows there has been no meaningful change since in the way Wales is treated since Labour took power compared to the Conservatives.

“All we want is Wales to be treated fairly, to receive the same treatment as Scotland and Northern Ireland.

“The Welsh Liberal Democrats won’t stop demanding our fair share on behalf of the communities we represent.”

ENDS