Tuesday, January 27, 2026
Home Secretary delivers another snub to Welsh First MInister
The broadcaster says that Shabana Mahmood's stance comes as the Labour party remains split over whether Cardiff Bay politicians should have direct control of criminal justice:
First Minister Eluned Morgan called for the devolution of policing last Thursday in a speech which warned Westminster Labour to act now to prevent pro-independence parties dominating the Senedd.
Plaid Cymru said the House of Commons exchange exposed "deep divisions" and a "lack of coherence within Labour's ranks".
Mahmood's white paper, published on Tuesday, could see the number of forces in England and Wales cut by about two-thirds.
An independent review will look at which forces should merge. The Welsh Liberal Democrats warned against a single Welsh organisation, fearing it could worsen local policing.
In the Commons, Plaid Cymru's Liz Saville Roberts said three independent commissions had recommended justice and policing be devolved to Wales.
She asked the home secretary: "Does she not agree that this package of radical changes is exactly the right time for the devolution of policing to Wales?"
In a short reply, Shabana Mahmood said: "No, I do not."
The Labour-led Welsh government has for years called for policing and criminal justice powers to be devolved to the Senedd.
Advocates of that policy argue it would allow the Welsh government to set policies that were more aligned to Wales' existing health and education systems.
The Welsh government commission on justice in 2019, external argued there was also "no rational basis" for Wales to be treated differently from Northern Ireland and Scotland, where policing is devolved.
Labour MPs have struck a different tone, however, with the now Welsh Secretary Jo Stevens saying in 2024 that problems with crime were too urgent to begin "fiddling" with policing powers.
Having already been snubbed by Labour MPs over her call for the control of Welsh railways to be devolved to the Senedd, Eluned Morgan has now had the same treatment from the Home Secretary. She just can't catch a break.
