A ROW developed today in Labour after Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood ruled out devolving policing to Wales after announcing a major overhaul of the sector.

First Minister Eluned Morgan called for the devolution of policing in a major speech last week in which she warned Keir Starmer’s government that failure to act could see parties in favour of an independent Wales.

The red-on-red row was exacerbated by a Welsh Labour MP telling the BBC that policing should not be devolved “as we don’t know who will be in charge” after the Senedd elections in May.

The admission of electoral defeat in Wales will not help the FM’s attempt to overturn the polls that show her party in fourth place on 10 per cent of the vote.

A Welsh Labour spokesperson said: “Eluned Morgan has been clear that she will always push for more powers for Wales and regularly raises further devolution with the Prime Minister.

“Welsh Labour wants more devolution to strengthen Wales, while Plaid only want more powers to separate us.”

Plaid Cymru Westminster leader Liz Saville Roberts seized on the Home Secretary’s statement when she ruled out devolving policing.

Ms Mahmood told Parliament that the changes to how policing works are the most significant in around 200 years, with a transformation in the structure of forces, and the means by which they are held to account by the public.

“The white paper recognises that changes to policing governance and crime prevention in Wales will have to reflect the existence of over a quarter of a century of devolution,” Ms Saville Roberts said in Parliament.

“Meanwhile, three independent commissions have recommended that justice and policing be devolved to Wales.  

“Considering around 56 per cent of our police funding already comes from devolved sources, does she not agree that this package of radical changes is exactly the right time for the devolution of policing to Wales?”  

In her response, Ms Mahmood said: “No, I do not.”

“This flat refusal comes just days after the First Minister of Wales, Eluned Morgan, called for the devolution of justice, exposing the deep divisions and lack of coherence within Labour’s ranks,” Ms Saville Roberts said.