THERE was confusion over Scottish Labour’s policy on the Barnett Formula yesterday, after Kezia Dugdale, and the party’s chief in Wales, Carwyn Jones seemed to take different positions on how the devolved governments should be funded.
The SNP claimed Labour wanted to scrap the formula and take £4bn out of public spending in Scotland.
Even Theresa May got involved, accusing the party of “infighting” over the formula used to decide the amount of taxpayers cash allocated to the UK’s constituent parts.
Jones, the Welsh First Minister, said on Monday evening that a Labour government in Westminster would scrap the way central government distributes public expenditure to Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.
In the Wales section of their UK manifesto, Labour commit to “long term reform of how the UK allocates public expenditure to ensure that it reflects the needs of different parts of our country.”
Jones, who has long insisted Wales is short changed by the formula, said this commitment meant Barnett would be scrapped.
“Nobody can defend a situation where we have a funding formula that is over 38 years old by now, that was based on the way things were in the 1970s,” he said yesterday.
But yesterday, Dugdale insisted her party’s manifesto supported the Barnett Formula, and that a Labour government’s spending plans would lead to an extra £3bn worth of spending for Scotland.
“The UK Labour Party manifesto is very clear — it supports the Barnett Formula,” she said.
“It includes an additional £3bn coming to Scotland from UK-wide spending decisions.
“I spoke to Carwyn Jones this morning and we’re both focused on fighting for a fair deal for Scotland and Wales.
“You only get that with Labour — the Tories want to strip back investment and the SNP wants to break up the UK, which would mean the end of the Barnett Formula.”
A spokesman for the UK Labour Party said: “Our manifesto costings are based on the Barnett Formula and we will not scrap it.”
Most of the spending by the devolved governments in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland is funded by grants from the UK government, with the Barnett Formula used to work out amounts.
It is based on population, rather than need. When the UK government changes funding for a service in England, the Barnett Formula tries to achieve a similar change in funding per person in the devolved administrations.
There have long been calls in Wales to change that method to reflect need.
The Holtham report in 2010 claimed Wales was losing out by about as much as £300m a year because of the formula.
Speaking on the campaign trail in Forfar yesterday, Nicola Sturgeon said she was “pretty astounded” by Jones’ comments.
“It does sound as if Labour are shaping up, if they are in a position to do so, of effectively taking £4bn out of public spending in Scotland and I think there is a real obligation on Labour to come forward and clarify the position urgently,” she said.
The SNP’s Pete Wishart went further, accusing Dugdale of “covering up Labour’s plans to slash Scotland’s budget.”
The Prime Minister said: “The infighting that’s taking place is between Carwyn Jones, and the Welsh Labour Party, and Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party.”
The Tories, she added, would “ensure sustainable funding”.
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