![\"First](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/0_Sir-Keir-Starmer-visit-to-Cardiff.jpg\")
First Minister of Wales Eluned Morgan, right, is expected to issue a warning to the Government(Image: PA)<\/p>\nEluned Morgan, Wales’s Labour First Minister, is expected to break ranks over the party’s controversial decision to slash the disability benefits bill in a major speech on TuesdayFirst Minister of Wales Eluned Morgan, right, is expected to issue a warning to the Government(Image: PA)<\/p>\n
Welsh First Minister Eluned Morgan will distance herself from Labour’s benefit cuts and warn the Government that she will stand up against “unfairness”.<\/p>\n
In a major speech on Tuesday, the Welsh Labour<\/a> leader is expected to take aim at the Government’s plans to slash the disability benefits bill, which will disproportionately affect people in Wales.<\/p>\n Ms Morgan, who is a Gavin and Stacey fan, is expected to compare Labour in England and Wales to the beloved sitcom – saying what works in Essex may not work in Barry.<\/p>\n Her intervention comes as Labour gears up for a bitter battle in next year’s Senedd elections, where the party faces being squeezed by Reform on the right and Plaid Cymru on the left.<\/p>\n Tensions are mounting in Labour ranks after Reform made sweeping gains in the English local elections last week, when the party also won a by-election in the Labour stronghold of Runcorn and Helsby by six votes.<\/p>\n READ MORE: NEIL KINNOCK: ‘Labour must be relevant to people\u2019s everyday lives and offer realistic hope’<\/a> Cuts to disability benefits – which have been blamed by some Labour MPs for alienating voters – will disproportionately hit people living in Wales and northern England. Recent analysis by Policy in Practice found four out of the 10 local authority areas worst affected by benefit cuts were in Wales.<\/p>\n Ms Morgan will point to successes driving down NHS waiting lists after extra cash from the Budget<\/a>. But she will draw a line in the sand over benefit cuts, and signal a shift to the left in Cardiff.<\/p>\n Pointing to the UK Government, she is expected to say: “Where we disagree, we’ll say it. Where we see unfairness, we’ll stand up to it. And when Westminster makes decisions we think will harm Welsh communities, we will not stay silent.”<\/p>\n She added: “I will not hesitate to challenge from within [Labour], even when it means shaking things up and disrupting the comfortable.”<\/p>\n The First Minister will also take aim at Reform in the speech, saying: “We walk beside people, we don’t divide them. Our politics isn’t about putting people down, it’s about quiet determination. It’s about care, compassion and graft. It’s about solidarity not spite.”<\/p>\n Former Labour leader Neil Kinnock threw his weight behind her efforts to spell out how the party would stand up for Wales. He said: “There is a lot to learn from the outcomes of the local elections in England, including the seepage of votes to Liberals, Greens and abstentions which \u2013 ironically \u2013 made the task of Reform much easier.<\/p>\n “And the fight in Wales will be even more intense. To earn sustained support, Labour has to be relevant to people\u2019s everyday lives and offer realistic hope for the future. In Wales, Labour has to embody Welsh values of community, fairness and determination.”<\/p>\n It comes as ex-Cabinet Minister Louise Haigh became the most senior MP yet to say the cuts to welfare and the winter fuel allowance should be ditched. She said Labour faced an “existential” threat from Reform and urged the PM to tear up Labour’s pledge not to raise taxes.<\/p>\n Be the first with news from Mirror Politics<\/p>\n BLUESKY: <\/strong>Follow our Mirror Politics account on Bluesky here<\/a>. And follow our Mirror Politics team here – Lizzy Buchan<\/a>, Mikey Smith<\/a>, Kevin Maguire<\/a>, Sophie Huskisson<\/a>, Dave Burke<\/a> and Ashley Cowburn<\/a>.<\/p>\n POLITICS WHATSAPP: <\/strong>Be first to get the biggest bombshells and breaking news by joining our Politics WhatsApp group here<\/a>. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you want to leave our community, you can check out any time you like. If you\u2019re curious, you can read our Privacy Notice<\/a>.<\/p>\n NEWSLETTER: <\/strong>Or sign up here to the Mirror’s Politics newsletter<\/a> for all the best exclusives and opinions straight to your inbox.<\/p>\n PODCAST: <\/strong>And listen to our exciting new political podcast The Division Bell<\/a>, hosted by the Mirror and the Express every Thursday.<\/p>\n It marks her first major intervention since she quit as Transport Secretary in November after admitting she had pleaded guilty to a fraud offence a decade ago over a mobile phone theft.<\/p>\n On Sunday, Health Secretary Wes Streeting said the Government was impatient to bring about the change voters want but it would take time to fix the mess the Tories left behind.<\/p>\n He told the BBC<\/a>: “All I\u2019d say to people, we\u2019ve got the message, we\u2019re not daft, we haven\u2019t got our heads in the sand, all I\u2019d ask people for is to give us a bit of time and to give us the benefit of the doubt.<\/p>\n “To recognise the range, the breadth, the depth of the crisis that we walked into, we\u2019re going at those challenges as hard as we can, as fast as we can; we\u2019re as frustrated, impatient about the challenges and the change that\u2019s needed in the country as everyone else.”<\/p>\n Mr Streeting added: “The Chancellor\u2019s been very clear with the Cabinet and with the country that we can\u2019t just kind of keep reaching for a tax lever to solve our problems, we\u2019ve got to do more on the reform side, making sure money\u2019s better spent.<\/p>\n “That\u2019s why, although the Chancellor has invested \u00a326 billion more in the NHS<\/a> made possible because of those choices, not all of which have been popular, but I would argue as Health Secretary, the right choice to invest in the NHS.”<\/p>\n![\"Nigel](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/0_Nigel-Farages-Victory-Lap-Of-England-As-Reform-Wins-Big-In-Local-Elections.jpg\")
Nigel Farage’s Reform UK seized control of 10 English councils and won a by-election in a Labour stronghold last week(Image: Getty Images)<\/p>\n![\"Eluned](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/0_Welsh-Labour-Conference-2024.jpg\")
Eluned Morgan, the First Minister of Wales, is expected to vow to stand up to Labour in Westminster (Image: Getty Images)<\/p>\n