Spoke yesterday lunchtime at the Welsh fringe meeting, which was extremely well-attended. There were speeches, too, from Cheryl Gillan, Nick Bourne and our new Conservative MEP, Kay Swinburne.
Cheryl spoke about the need for a new and improved working relationship between Whitehall and Cardiff. At present, the national and devolved administrations seem to operate to a large extent in silos, each oblivious to the other; sometimes, indeed, it is possible even to discern an unhealthy mutual antagonism.
This is not good for users of public services on either side of the border and is, frankly, silly. We need a more mature, grown-up dialogue and a new spirit of co-operation; and that is precisely what the Conservatives intend to create.


