The Chancellor of the Exchequer has failed to give an assurance that west Wales communities will continue to receive the same level of funding after the UK leaves the European Union despite Carmarthenshire MP Jonathan Edwards explicitly asking him for a guarantee in the House of Commons this week.

In a discussion on a UK 'Shared Prosperity Fund' – Westminster's proposed new model to distribute monies across the UK which will replace the EU's regional funding mechanisms, Plaid Cymru MP Mr Edwards told Chancellor Philip Hammond that communities he represented in Carmarthenshire received the highest form of EU structural aid and asked if he would "give a guarantee that they will not lose a single penny" following the introduction of the Shared Prosperity Fund post Brexit.

In response Mr Hammond refused to guarantee funding, and instead said the Westminster government was consulting on the way in which the fund would work.

Jonathan Edwards and Plaid Cymru have been a staunch critics of successive Westminster governments under-funding Wales. He said the response from the Chancellor was "contradicting the promises of the Leave campaign" and "another example of why we cannot trust Westminster".

Speaking after this question the Commons, Carmarthen East and Dinefwr MP Jonathan Edwards said:

"Vote Leave campaigners, including a number of Government Ministers and Tory representatives were falling over themselves during the EU referendum campaign to state that Wales would not lose any money should the UK decide to leave the European Union.

"We in Plaid Cymru never take a Westminster promise at face value as we're well aware of the failure of London to recognise the needs of Wales and properly fund our nation. Take Policing for example; where Welsh forces are losing out to the tune of £25million per year as a direct result of responsibility not being devolved, and its funding stream at the mercy of London-centric thinking.

"I asked a simple question to guarantee every penny that Carmarthenshire and west Wales receives now. The Chancellor – the person who controls the UK Treasury – failed to do that, contradicting the promises of the Leave campaign, and casting serious doubt on whether those promises to Wales will be honoured.

"This is yet another example of why we cannot trust Westminster. I and my colleagues will be fighting for every single penny our communities need and deserve."