Category Archives: Cheryl Gillan

Roger’s secret

Posted on February 26, 2010 | 2 Comments

Yesterday, I wound up for the Opposition in the annual St David’s Day debate in the Commons.  The debate was opened by Peter Hain, who spent most of his time denigrating the Tories; he must be deeply worried, which pleases me greatly.

An intriguing moment came when the veteran Labour Member, Ann Clwyd (Cynon Valley), spoke about her early days in Parliament:

Ann Clwyd (Cynon Valley) (Lab): I first became an elected Member in 1979, when the hon. Member for Brecon and Radnorshire (Mr. Williams) was in Brecon and Radnorshire, which was in my European constituency. I hope that I do not embarrass him, but I was very grateful for his help at that time. We remain good friends, even though we are on opposite sides of the Chamber, and I hope that he might help me in other campaigns some time in the future.

Roger Williams, the MP for Brecon and Radnorshire, turned scarlet.

“Were you one of them, Roger?” asked Cheryl Gillan, but received no answer.

So was Roger a Labour supporter?  Perhaps a reader knows the answer.

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Posted in Cheryl Gillan, Labour Party, Liberal Democrats, Peter Hain, Roger Williams

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Time to behave like grown-ups

Posted on October 6, 2009 | Leave a comment

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.

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Posted in Cheryl Gillan, Conservative Party, Welsh Assembly Government

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Dropping our defences?

Posted on July 16, 2009 | 1 Comment

One of the most important projects planned for anywhere in Wales is the defence training academy at St Athan in the Vale of Glamorgan.  When the £12 billion scheme was announced in January, 2007, it was enthusiastically welcomed by politicians of all parties (with the exception of Plaid Cymru). It is projected to open in 2014 and will train up to 25,000 students every year.

The academy will need the appropriate infrastructure to support it, most importantly road links.  This is what the local MP, John Smith, had to say at last May’s Welsh Grand Committee:

We must ensure that the infrastructure is right for the people of west Wales and mid-Wales, so that we have easy access to and from the site.

Consequently, one of the most important projects being considered right now is the airport link road from the M4 to Cardiff airport. It is absolutely critical that that project remains on track and is delivered. Following the Budget, I recognise that there will be pressure because of the constraints on public expenditure growth and the pressure to look at projects that may be viewed as providing easy savings. However, it would be a disaster if the airport link road was delayed any further, or shelved or dropped by the Welsh Assembly Government between now and 2014, when the college will open. If that road is not built, the college will still open and the job opportunities will still be there but they will not go to the people of Wales, or rather they will not go to the proportion of people in Wales to whom they should go.

John Smith will consequently be disappointed at yesterday’s announcement by the Welsh transport minister that the airport link road is to be abandoned, together with a long-planned improvement to the M4 in South Wales.  Indeed, John has gone further and called the decision “economic lunacy”.

The announcement will undoubtedly cause uncertainty over the future of the St Athan project.  Such uncertainty will not have been relieved by the following exchange at yesterday’s Welsh Questions:

Mrs. Cheryl Gillan (Chesham and Amersham) (Con): The defence training project at St. Athan would bring huge opportunities to Wales. Will the Minister confirm that the Secretary of State is co-ordinating with the Ministry of Defence and that the pre-contract agreement letter will be issued to the preferred bidder this week, on time on 17 July—or will the Government delay that? 

Mr. David: The hon. Lady is correct to stress the importance of that investment to Wales. It will be the largest single investment ever in the Welsh economy. The defence technical college will be of tremendous benefit, not only to the Welsh economy but obviously to the United Kingdom armed forces. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State fully recognises the importance of that; he has had discussions with the Secretary of State for Defence and they are going forward together. The hon. Lady can rest assured that we recognise the importance of the project for Wales. 

Wayne David’s answer was unsettlingly lengthy; I hope that it was not deliberately obfuscatory.   It could, and should, have been a simple: “Yes, it will be issued”. 

Recognising the importance of the project is one thing; issuing the pre-contract agreement letter is another.  The Wales Office should immediately clarify the position.  It would be extremely worrying if there were any doubt whatever over the Government’s commitment to St Athan.

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Posted in Cheryl Gillan, Wales Office, Wayne David, Welsh Assembly Government, Welsh Grand Committee

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Well said, Cheryl

Posted on June 10, 2009 | 1 Comment

Also at Welsh Questions, Cheryl Gillan paid a very heartfelt tribute to the former Welsh Secretary, the sentiments of which, I am sure, were shared by Members on both sides of the House:

Mrs. Cheryl Gillan (Chesham and Amersham) (Con): As this could be the last time that I am at the Dispatch Box under your auspices, Mr. Speaker, may I take this opportunity to thank you for your courtesy towards me and my Front-Bench team and for your service to this House, and to wish you well?

In welcoming the return of the new Secretary of State, I also wish to express my admiration for his predecessor. I have enjoyed working with the right hon. Member for Torfaen (Mr. Murphy), a decent and straightforward man. We will miss his common sense and dedication to Wales. I wonder what sort of Prime Minister we have, who can so easily dispense with his services.

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Posted in Cheryl Gillan, Paul Murphy

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Ill-tempered outburst

Posted on April 4, 2009 | 3 Comments

elis_thomasI say it with sadness, but it is now very clear that Lord Elis-Thomas, the presiding officer of the Welsh Assembly, is  deliberately acting as a roadblock to the development of a more mature relationship between the Assembly and Westminster.

At the Welsh Conservative party conference in Cardiff last weekend, David Cameron, Cheryl Gillan and I made announcements of Conservative plans to move the devolution settlement onward.

Cheryl announced that Wales Office ministers would visit the Assembly to take questions on the floor of the chamber on three additional occasions every year.  At present, the Secretary of State visits only once.

I made the announcement of a new committee of Welsh and English MPs, who will report to the Secretary of State on any problems with the delivery of cross-border services, now one of the principal causes of dissatisfaction with the settlement; the neurosurgery episode was a prime example of this.  The committee’s work will assist the Secretary of State in performing her important role of acting as a bridge between Westminster and Cardiff Bay and should result in the better delivery of services to the citizen.

David Cameron announced that, as Prime Minister, he would visit the Assembly once every year to take questions “on any subject from Wales to the wider world”. 

The announcement was a mark of respect to the Assembly on David Cameron’s part, recognising it as an important British political institution, and has been generally well received; except, predictably enough, by Lord Elis -Thomas.

For months now, Dafydd Elis-Thomas has been using his platform as presiding officer, which one might have thought would constrain him to observe the utmost political neutrality, to snipe at Westminster institutions and Members of Parliament.  The Welsh select committee has been a particular target for his criticism.

Now David Cameron has incurred Elis-Thomas’s very public wrath. The presiding officer  has, in remarkably bad-tempered terms, attacked David Cameron’s polite and respectful offer as “preposterous”:

“It’s our own First Minister who answers questions here and the relationship is between the UK Government and the Welsh Government. It isn’t between the Prime Minister and the Assembly.

“That’s demeaning to our National Assembly and turns it into some kind of Grand Committee (of the House of Commons) equivalent…

“The idea that the Prime Minister of the UK can breeze in for a Q&A isn’t allowed under our standing orders and I have no intention of changing it.

“He is the first minister of another Government in terms of our constitution. I would think if those people were serious they would have looked at the constitution. It smacks a bit of paternal unionism.”

No statement could make it clearer that Lord Elis-Thomas, notwithstanding his position as presiding officer of the Assembly, is egregiously seeking  to advance his personal political goal of an independent Wales and to distance the Assembly from Westminster.  It is not, with respect, up to him to decide whether the standing orders should be changed; it is up to the Assembly as a whole. 

Section 32 of the Government of Wales Act clearly contemplates the participation of ministers other than the Secretary of State in Assembly proceedings:

(3) The standing orders may make provision for-

(a) the participation of the Secretary of State for Wales in proceedings of any committee of the Assembly, or any sub-committee of any such committee, and

(b) the participation in any Assembly proceedings of other Ministers of the Crown and of persons serving in the department of the Secretary of State for Wales or of any other Minister of the Crown.

So all that is required for David Cameron to make his annual visit to the Assembly is a simple change in standing orders.  Given that the majority of Assembly members represent unionist parties, which are supported by the majority of the Welsh people, it is inconceivable that they would display the sort of political immaturity that Lord Elis-Thomas has shown by his ill-tempered outburst. 

I have no doubt that they would welcome David Cameron’s annual visit as a visible, tangible token of the maturing relationship between Westminster and Cardiff Bay. 

And if Dafydd Elis-Thomas, as presiding officer, wants to stand in the way of that process, it is a very sad state of affairs indeed.

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Posted in Cheryl Gillan, Dafydd Elis-Thomas, David Cameron, Welsh Affairs Committee

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Kneed

Posted on March 11, 2008 | 3 Comments
Bullseye for my friend Cheryl Gillan this afternoon.

We were descending the stairs leading from the tearoom when we encountered a well-known, left-leaning political journalist.

“How are you, darling?” Cheryl enquired.

“In agony,” groaned the journo. “My knees are playing up.”

“Too much genuflecting to Gordon,” Cheryl sweetly replied.

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Posted in Cheryl Gillan

Rien de Rien

Posted on January 16, 2008 | 1 Comment
Welsh Questions was more packed than I have ever seen – even Peter Hain remarked upon it.

The reason for the additional interest in the affairs of the principality was, of course, Peter Hain’s own presence; it was his first outing at the despatch box since his recent problems became so very obvious.

Peter was rather subdued, certainly not his usual combative self. His self-confidence had not been boosted by Gordon Brown’s remark that he had been guilty of “an incompetence”.

Fortunately for Peter, the order paper did not provide much leeway for those Members who had it in mind to give him a kicking, though Nigel Evans was pretty caustic and urged him outright to resign.

Cheryl Gillan asked him if he had “any regrets about the business endorsements that he had made as Secretary of State for Wales in the past two years”.

Astonishingly, given the echoes of Norman Lamont at his darkest hour, Peter replied that he had “absolutely no regrets” about them.

“Je ne regrette rien!” chorused the Conservative benches.

I doubt he will survive.

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Posted in Cheryl Gillan, Peter Hain

Cheryl and Chinese

Posted on September 1, 2007 | 2 Comments
Clwyd West Conservatives held a late summer dinner last night at the Kinmel Manor Hotel, Abergele. Guest speaker was my colleague, Cheryl Gillan, shadow Secretary of State for Wales, who was on top form.

We were delighted to be visited by 22 members of the Chinese Conservative Association, some from as far afield as London, Manchester and Bristol.

Before the dinner, Cheryl and I met some of the Chinese Conservatives, who are anxious to expand their activities into North Wales; indeed, there is already a growing North Wales branch, with members in Abergele, Colwyn Bay, Bangor, Llangefni and Holyhead.

Stephen Chung, the North of England chairman, explained that members of the Chinese community had traditionally avoided politics, preferring to get on with running their businesses, looking after their families and generally trying to improve their lives. However, many now realised that involvement in politics was part of the process of integrating fully into British life. Moreover, Chinese values were very similar to Conservative ones, so the Chinese community tended to support the Conservative party.

I pointed out that the Chinese are a long established and respected part of the wider North Wales community, due probably to the area’s proximity to Liverpool, which has one of the oldest Chinese communities in Europe.

The evening was a tremendous success, and was covered by reporters from the Chinese TV station, Phoenix, and a reporter from the Hong Kong newspaper, Sing Tao.

My picture shows Cheryl and me with Stephen Chung, Prof. Sulan Tang and Kam Lee, national chairman of the Chinese Conservative Association.

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Posted in Cheryl Gillan, Chinese Conservatives