Chancellor of the Exchequer Nadhim Zahawi gave a muddled and misleading response when challenged about Wales being the only country to miss out on funding from HS2. A previous comprehensive analysis by WalesOnline showed how Wales was being entirely overlooked when it came to rail funding (you can read the full breakdown here ).
Though more than £96bn will be spent on HS2 in England successive Tory-led administrations at Westminster have decided that Wales is not entitled to a consequential share. In 2015 David Cameron's government applied a 0% comparability factor for Wales to HS2 spending. This means Wales gets no extra funding at all, though Scotland and Northern Ireland are both getting a huge amount.
It can't be underestimated just how much Wales is being ripped off here. If it got its fair share like Scotland and Northern Ireland then Wales would be getting £5bn in funding. This could fund the south Wales and Swansea Bay metros, integrate north Wales with lines with Merseyside, and connect Aberystwyth and Swansea via train. However the UK Government has decided to class HS2 as a Wales and England project despite the face not a centimetre of track will be laid in Wales.
