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Wales should be handed £4bn in transport funding from Westminster to make up for the colossal figure spent on the HS2 high-speed rail project in England, according to Plaid Cymru’s economic supremo.

Jonathan Edwards, the party’s Treasury spokesman, said it was “a basic issue of fairness” that Wales should receive a share of transport funding to make up for the tens of billions which will be spent in England on the scheme.

Under the Barnett formula arrangements, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland receive money from the UK Government based on Treasury spending in England on matters which are devolved to the other nations.

'Wales is losing out'

Although the UK Government says HS2 will cost £43bn, an Institute of Fiscal Studies (IEA) estimate has put a pricetag of about £80bn on the controversial high speed rail connection between London and Birmingham, which would later be extended further north.

But because HS2 is deemed by Westminster to be a UK-wide project – despite not travelling through Wales – the Barnett calculations do not come into play.

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Plaid says that means Wales is losing out to the tune of £4bn. The sum is 5% of what is being spent in England because of the difference in population between the two nations.

Plaid says the extra funding would be able to pay for a raft of improvements to transport across Wales, including a metro rail service in the south west of the country and a north-south rail link.

'We need it set in stone'

And Mr Edwards, MP for Carmarthen East and Dinefwr, said new guidelines had to be put in place in order to ensure that, in future, any initiatives which did not benefit the other UK nations attracted equivalent Barnett formula funding.

He revealed the issue could be one of Plaid’s key priorities during any coalition negotiations they enter into following the general election.

Polls currently indicate a multi-party government could take office after May’s poll.

Mr Edwards said: “In my view, what we need is a clear Treasury protocol.

“We have got a range of major infrastructure projects announced for England by the UK Government. HS2 is the big one.

“We need it set in stone. If it’s England-only it shouldn’t be deemed to be a UK-wide project.”

'Insulting'

Mr Edwards said there was a difference between HS1 – linking London to the continent via the Channel Tunnel – which benefited the whole UK, and the current scheme.

He said: “HS2 is linking the northern cities of England to London. It is clearly an England-only project.”

And he described pro-HS2’ arguments that North Wales would benefit because of its proximity to Crewe as “insulting”.

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Mr Edwards added: “We get an absolutely awful deal. Since the Scottish referendum there’s been all this talk about a partnership of equals – let’s see it in practice.”