GMB’s Richard Madeley and Kate Garraway grilled a Labour minister on the show (Image: ITV)
Good Morning Britain presenter Kate Garraway exploded at a Labour minister in a heated clash over Wales’ railways. On Tuesday night (February 17), the prime minister announced plans to “transform” transport in Wales, which will be boosted by £14bn of the UK government investment. Sir Keir Starmer, who is visiting South Wales today (February 18), said the commitment to rail infrastructure improvements was “investment for the long term” and put “Wales on the front foot”.
This morning, guest co-hosts Richard Madeley and Kate Garraway welcomed the Secretary of State for Wales, Jo Stevens MP, onto the show to get a deeper insight into the new developments. It didn’t take long before things became heated when Richard asked the Labour minister if they were “bribing” voters.
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After discussing the upcoming plans for Wales, Richard bluntly asked: “Are you bribing voters?” before the politician shut it down, insisting that they are “publishing their pipeline of projects that they are committed to delivering as fast as possible with the Welsh Government for the benefit of the people of Wales.”
Kate then clarified: “This idea of wanting to have something nice to offer to Wales, Richard said, ‘Is this a bribe?’ It’s not come from us. It comes from the Welsh First Minister, Eluned Morgan, saying earlier this year in a different announcement that yes, the Prime Minister is welcome in Wales if he brings goodies.
“And actually, when there was very explicit criticism of Sir Kir Starmer, the First Minister remained quiet. So is this a bid to win all kinds of people round, including from your own party?”
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The Secretary of State for Wales, Jo Stevens, was grilled on the ITV breakfast show (Image: ITV)
The Secretary dodged the question once again, stating: “Today’s announcement is delivering what the Welsh people need and what they deserve, and they have waited a very, very long time for it. The only reason that it’s happening is because we have two Labour governments, one in Westminster and one in Cardiff.
“The First Minister will be with the Prime Minister today, as will I and the Transport Secretary, to make this huge announcement. This is a massive investment in Wales, which will deliver the transport infrastructure that we have waited for so long for. And it’s absolutely what we need, and we deserve.”
When Kate attempted to interject with clarification, the Labour representative shut her down and fumed: “I think you said that the First Minister called it a bribe. She absolutely has not said that.” Kate snapped back with: “No, she didn’t, I said she called it a goodie. She said, ‘Bring in goodies’. That’s what I said, and that’s what they said as well.”
The politician snapped: “Good, fine. I’m glad you clarified that” before the presenter moved on to talk more about when residents can expect these changes to commence. This comment was made back in January amid tensions between the Welsh Labour government in Cardiff and the UK Labour government.
Morgan stated that Starmer was only welcome to campaign with her if he brought “goodies”, meaning concrete investment projects, funding commitments, or the devolution of powers. It didn’t take long before viewers flocked to X – formerly known as Twitter – to share their frustrations online.
One user fumed: “What an absolute bunch of liars Labour and Jo Stevens are. We know these new stations won’t happen, and they’re panicking before the Welsh elections.”
Another agreed: “Welsh Labour are in blind panic, they’re promising 7 new rail stations across Wales in a desperate attempt to buy votes for the May Elections. You’re insulting the intelligence of the Welsh people. Too little too late. Bye bye Labour.” A third echoed: “Not a word said when investment is in London… funny how it’s questioned when its in Wales.”