Labour and Tories meet formally for first time in 20 years for budget talks

THE Welsh Conservatives and Labour met yesterday to discuss next year’s Welsh Government budget.

- By RUTH MOSALSKI

It is understood to have been the first time in 20 years that formal negotiations have taken place between the two groups.

The draft budget spells out how the Welsh Government will spend its £27bn budget for 2026-27, but Welsh Labour faces a difficult challenge to get its spending plans approved as it does not have an outright majority in the Senedd.

The vote will come weeks before a Senedd election takes place in May, which could see a huge change in who is running Wales.

Darren Millar, the leader of the Welsh Conservatives, met First Minister Eluned Morgan yesterday.

He sent her a formal invitation on October 14, saying he would meet with her if she was prepared to discuss key topics such as a Conservative pledge to scrap Wales' equivalent of stamp duty, known as land transaction tax.