Tories : He who pays the piper calls the tunes.

One of the glaring proofs that the devolution settlement is still wanting occurs during the Chancellors Budget Statement.

In it if he announces that extra money to the HS and Education in England it will be claimed at the same there will equivalent mount  money sent to the devolved  legistures.

The inference made by the UK government is that this should be spent in exactly the same way (NHS and Education)  as in England.

The proof of this came with the announcement  In Monday's budget UK ministers said their Welsh counterparts may be given an extra £300m in borrowing if it is spent on the planned M4 Relief Road.

Welsh Government finance secretary Mark Drakeford has however said said.he Chancellor Philip Hammond cannot tell AMs to spend extra cash on the M4, 

The BBC report that

In Monday's budget UK ministers said their Welsh counterparts may be given an extra £300m in borrowing if it is spent on the planned M4 Relief Road.
Mr Drakeford said it was for AMs to decide how to spend any new money.
But Welsh Secretary Alun Cairns said the Welsh Government had specifically asked for the new cash for the M4.
Sources insisted Welsh ministers did not request extra borrowing exclusively for the road.
On Monday the UK government budget announced that it would support the "delivery of a new M4 relief road through a review of the Welsh Government's capital borrowing powers at the Spending Review, to consider whether the borrowing cap should be increased by up to £300m to support this vital project".
It came with an announcement of an extra £550m for devolved services over three years - although Mr Drakeford said much of the money was not new.
The Welsh Government can already borrow £1bn, but opponents of the relief road are concerned that committing to the project will tie-up most of that cash for years

Mr Drakeford told BBC Radio's Good Morning Wales programme that he was told months ago that the borrowing powers would be reviewed.

"If our borrowing ability goes up, which it should go up, it should be for the national assembly to make those decisions."

 But Mr Cairns said:

"Last April, the Welsh Government asked the Treasury for additional funding for the M4 road, for additional borrowing capacity.""I've been able to deliver that extra borrowing power so there is no financial reason why that road [can not be] built.
"I'd also point out that it is a Labour manifesto commitment," adding: "This is not about us dictating policy."
"If they choose not to build it, then that is their political choice and they need to explain that to the people around Newport as well as to the businesses across the whole of the South Wales corridor because they will suffer as a result."

 Sources say Mark Drakeford wrote to the Treasury in April saying he would seek extra borrowing capacity for "our investment priorities, including the M4".

The M4 was the only example cited in the letter, which did not mention other priorities."It will be for the national assembly for Wales to decide on how borrowing powers are deployed, not for the Chancellor in England, not for the Secretary for State for Wales,"

A Welsh Government spokesman said:

 "We requested the UK Government reviews the Welsh Government's borrowing cap, in line with the fiscal framework agreement, for it to be raised at the next spending review.

"This request was made to help us fund our ambitious capital infrastructure programme, which potentially includes an M4 relief road, subject to the outcome of the public inquiry."
"Despite declaring austerity to be over, the Chancellor could only find a paltry £2.6m for infrastructure next year in his Budget yesterday," y received the findings of a public inquiry into whether to build the M4 Relief Road, which estimated to cost more than £1.4bn.

A decision is yet to be taken on whether to go ahead, with a vote set to take place in the assembly in December.

Ministers in Cardiff have supported the relief road in the past but Mr Drakeford, who is a candidate in the Welsh Labour leadership race, is thought to be a sceptic.

Plaid Cymru treasury spokesman Jonathan Edwards said:  

"It would completely undermine devolution if those borrowing powers are only constrained by what the British government wants the Welsh government to spend those borrowing powers on."

Of course even with a few dissidents  among Labour AM's , both The Welsh Government and "Welsh" Tories , back the relief road , but it seems the latter are hoping to claim credit for it or not id it proves to be a expensive and environmental disaster that delivers no actual benefits.

But clearly this is an example of Westminster dictating , how money allocated to Wales is spent and I would not be surprised  if this increases .

Expect the Tories to ask . "why have you spent (probably claim wasted) the equivalent money we earmarked to the NHS and Education in England on other projects"? 

Indeed would a Tory Government in Cardiff bay, completely follow their London Masters proposals for England.

This will always be the case if we continue to go cap in hand and those who claim to pay the piper calls the tunes.