A FRACTIOUS Senedd quizzed First Minister Eluned Morgan today on how much rail funding Wales might receive and over her stewardship of the Welsh NHS.

Welsh Conservative leader Darren Millar quizzed the Ms Morgan on a Royal College of Nursing report which included anonymous testimonies from NHS nursing staff in Wales.

He asked the First Minister whether she agreed with the director of the Royal College of Nursing in Wales, who has said that there is a crisis in hospitals because people are being treated in unsafe, undignified and unacceptable environments.

Ms Morgan said there was huge demand, exacerbated by Wales’s ageing population, the loss of foreign health staff as a result of Brexit and 14 years of austerity.

Mr Millar pressed her to agree that the NHS was in crisis in Wales, but she hit back, saying: “The NHS does incredible work week in, week out.

“It’s important to remember that the equivalent of two-thirds of the population have contact with the NHS in Wales every month, with the majority having a very good service.”

Plaid Cymru leader Rhun ap Iorwerth asked what formal channels with Westminster she had used to try to push devolution of the crown estate to Wales.

Ms Morgan said that she regularly met the Prime Minister and that the Westminster government was well aware “that we want to see the crown estate devolved.”

To rising noise from Senedd members, Mr ap Iorwerth said his party had asked Chancellor Rachel Reeves what recent discussions she had had with the Welsh government and the answer was none.

The First Minister said: “I can assure you that they are taking place.” She told the Senedd that the Finance Secretary had had discussions very recently, adding: “I’ve brought it up with the Chancellor.”

The thorny question of money owed to Wales from the High-Speed 2 rail project was also raised by Tory Peter Fox, former consul-general Mick Antinow and Labour’s Carolyn Thomas, seeking a definitive figure from Ms Morgan for how much is owed by Westminster.

Ms Morgan told the Senedd to be patient and wait for the Westminster government’s spending review, saying that an announcement would be made in the Senedd after the Easter recess.