LABOUR members of the Welsh Senedd have written to Keir Starmer accusing him of a “constitutional outrage” against devolution.

Eleven MSs, more than one-third of the Labour group, accused the government of following the Tories in bypassing the devolved administration to directly fund local initiatives in Wales.

When the last Conservative government did this, the Labour administration in Cardiff applied for a judicial review.

The signatories, who include former ministers and senior backbenchers, told Sir Keir his conduct was “at best deeply insensitive, at worst a constitutional outrage.”

They added that “if this was being done by a Tory government we would be calling for a judicial review. This must never happen again.

“Wales needs and deserves to be treated as an equal part of the UK.”

Phyl Griffiths of independence campaign Yes Cymru commented: “When Westminster can ignore the Senedd, bypass Welsh ministers and take decisions about Wales from London, even in fully devolved areas, it shows clearly that devolution cannot protect Welsh democracy.

“Only independence is the reliable way for Wales to secure the right to govern itself without Westminster.”

The row comes as Labour faces an uphill fight in next year’s Senedd elections, with polls, not to mention the recent Caerphilly by-election, suggesting it could lose power for the first time since the introduction of devolution. Plaid Cymru and Reform stand to gain from Labour’s collapse in age-old strongholds.