A UK government minister has insisted she gets on well with Eluned Morgan despite a public spat over plans to cut disability and sickness benefits.

Earlier this month the Welsh first minister publicly rebuked Labour’s Welsh Secretary Jo Stevens for saying she welcomed the chancellor’s cuts.

Stevens said the relationship between her and the first minister was “very good”, and said Morgan had been clear in agreeing for the need for welfare reform.

The Welsh government declined to comment.

Morgan had previously told the Senedd: “I’ve got a lot of people trying to put words into my mouth these days, haven’t I?

“You summarized my position? I had somebody else last week trying to speak for me. I speak for myself. I speak for the Welsh government.”

Sources close to the first minister said at the time the comment referred to Stevens, who said the week before that the first minister had “welcomed” the reforms.

In the same session the first minister said she lamented the cuts, and said recipients of the benefits involved were “suffering” and “worried”.

Stevens is a member of the UK government cabinet. According to a ministerial website, the Welsh secretary is responsible for the “overall strategic direction of the UK government in Wales”.

Asked on Radio Wales Breakfast how she would describe her relationship with the first minister in relation to the welfare changes, Stevens said: “I have a very good relationship with the first minister”.

Pressed on whether the situation was awkward, Stevens said the pair worked “closely together”.

“That’s why we were able to deliver a record budget settlement for Welsh government in the autumn budget last year.”

Stevens was asked if she put words in Morgan’s mouth, or mis-spoke.

She declined to answer the first question directly. To the second, she added: “If you look at the letter that the Welsh government made public, it set out quite clearly an agreement with the need to reform welfare.

“The system as it currently is is indefensible, it’s unstainable and it’s unfair on the people who are involved in it.”

Stevens was referring to a letter by Morgan to Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall, written at the beginning of March, where the first minister asked for an impact assessment for Wales.

Morgan had said: “I agree the system needs to ensure it is effectively supporting people into work and offering an effective financial safety net for people who are unable to work”.