Category Archives: Conservative Party

Speech to Welsh Conservative rally, 25 March 2012

It is a huge pleasure to be speaking to you on such a beautiful spring day in the brand new city of St Asaph.

And what a pleasure it is, too, to be here at OpTIC Glyndŵr – one of the most extraordinary buildings in all of Wales.

Its great glass wall, at 1,000 square metres, is the largest photovoltaic installation of its kind in the whole of Europe.

But there is much more to the OpTIC than the PV array.

In this very building, scientists from Glyndŵr University and University College London are working on a project to produce mirrors for the European Extremely Large Telescope, which will be the largest optical telescope in the world.

The level of engineering accuracy that the project calls for is astonishing.

Only a few feet from where we are sitting, Glyndŵr engineers are polishing mirrors to an accuracy of one billionth of a metre – or one thousand times less thick than a human hair.

And the advanced work that Glyndŵr is carrying out in this building is matched by a cluster of other companies in this area.

Close by is the Qioptiq plant, manufacturing hi-tech military optical equipment, which is exported around the world.

A couple of hundred yards in the other direction, we have TRB, a supplier of advanced automotive components; and a mile or two down the road we have the Honeywell factory, making computerised environmental and combustion controls.

So the proud new city of St Asaph is home to a number of world-class industries, which have chosen this beautiful corner of North Wales to establish and expand their businesses.

But while St Asaph and the surrounding area is competing with many other parts of the United Kingdom and, indeed, Europe, and Welsh institutions like Glyndŵr are literally reaching for the stars, the same, sadly, cannot be said for most of the rest of Wales.

The hard fact is that Wales is becoming progressively poorer, not only in relation to other parts of the United Kingdom, but to many other, less advantaged, parts of the EU.

Everybody remembers Peter Hain’s classic slip-up, when he boasted that, no matter how bad it got, Wales was, at least, richer than Rwanda; but that gaffe was not so very far from the truth.

The latest Eurostat figures, published a couple of weeks ago, show that two-thirds of Wales is now poorer than some parts of Romania.

Think about that: a country that spent most of the post-war period struggling under communism, and under the heel of  one of the world’s most repressive dictators, is now richer than most of Wales.

And, unbelievably, despite the hundreds of millions of pounds poured in, through European Objective One funding, over the last twelve years, most of Wales has got poorer rather than richer.

As Dylan Jones-Evans has pointed out, back in 2000, when it first received European funding, West Wales and the Valleys was the sixth most prosperous Objective One region in Europe.

By 2009, it had had fallen to forty-second out of fifty regions across Europe.

West Wales and the Valleys is now not only the poorest region of the UK, but is poorer than parts of Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Slovenia.

Oh yes, and Greece.

And at least they have the sunshine.

Who is to blame for all this?

Well, it doesn’t take a political anorak to realise that Wales’s continued economic decline has coincided with long periods of Labour Government in both London and Cardiff.

And, sadly, although we have now turfed Labour out at Westminster level, they are still the governing administration in Cardiff Bay.

Responsible, under the devolution settlement, for economic development.

So, given that responsibility, it is entirely fair to say that Labour are squarely responsible for messing up the Welsh economy.

Do you remember the Welsh Development Agency?

The WDA was established by the last Conservative Government and was astonishingly successful at attracting foreign companies to establish themselves in Wales.

World-renowned companies, such as Sharp, Toyota, Brother and Hoya were persuaded by the WDA that Wales was the right place to set up in business.

Thanks to the WDA, Wales was regularly the most successful region of the United Kingdom in terms of attracting inward investment. 

The WDA was a world-renowned brand recognised everywhere you went.

It was run by businesspeople, who understood how other businesspeople thought.

And it was an invaluable Welsh asset.

So what did Labour decide to do with it?

They decided to scrap it.

Economic development was taken “in-house”.

And economic development, despite the Objective One millions, came to a standstill.

Meanwhile, Labour in London stood by and did little to help.

Which was also a shame.

Because the fortunes of the Welsh economy don’t depend exclusively on the actions of the Welsh Assembly Government.

Decisions taken at United Kingdom level are crucial to economic growth in every part of the country, Wales included.

That is why it is essential that there should be close working between governments in London and Cardiff, irrespective of the political hue of the parties in power at either end of the M4.

That is a fact that was recognised by the Commons Welsh Affairs Committee in its report, published last month, on inward investment into Wales.

And it urged the Government to work closely with the Welsh Assembly Government to help attract inward investment.

The committee was right.

The Welsh Government simply cannot grow the Welsh economy on its own.

It needs the close co-operation of the British Government, which has worldwide reach, through its chain of embassies, high commissions and consulates in almost every country on earth.

UK Trade and Investment, the Government’s international business agency, is there for the benefit of every business in every part of the UK, Wales included.

Its role is to promote British trade with the rest of the world; and the Welsh Government should be taking advantage of its global presence to work closely with it in seeking to attract business into Wales.

That is also something that was urged by the Select Committee.

Let me say this clearly: Cheryl and I, with the rest of the Wales Office, are anxious to work with the Welsh Government to help improve the Welsh economy.

We want to see Wales emerging from the doldrums of the last decade plus, and on the road to realising its fullest potential.

We are prepared to work very closely with the Welsh Government to help achieve this, despite our political differences.

In return, we expect a positive, mature response from the Welsh Government.

And I think that is something that the people of Wales expect, too.

There have, as everyone knows, been problems.

One of them, frankly, has been the reluctance of the Welsh Business Minister to engage with the British Government and the British Parliament.

When requested by the Welsh Select Committee to give evidence to it on its inquiry into inward investment, she refused to do so.

More recently, she even refused to allow her officials to attend a joint session of the Select Committee and its Assembly counterpart.

That, to be blunt, is plain childish; and it won’t impress the people of Wales.

She has also shown a distinct aversion to taking up any ideas for economic development that were not conceived in Wales.

Enterprise Zones being a prime example; she took six months to announce the first Welsh Zones, while almost two dozen Zones were forging ahead across England, many of them directly competitive with Wales.

That’s not good enough.

A “not invented here” mentality is unacceptable.

The fact is that Wales has two Governments, and unless they both work closely together, it will only be Wales that suffers.

Carwyn Jones and his colleagues in Cardiff Bay must recognise that, in the best interests of Wales, they need to co-operate – and co-operate closely – with the United Kingdom Government.

We at Westminster are very anxious to do all we can to help the Welsh economy grow.

We are willing to put the investment in.

But Cardiff must play its part, too.

We recognise that our national infrastructure urgently needs upgrading after many years of neglect.

So we are taking steps to do that.

Take railways, for instance.

Last year we announced the electrification of the Great Western line to Cardiff – something that Labour could have done in its thirteen years of office, but didn’t.

Electrification is crucial to Cardiff, but we want to go further.

We also recognise the importance of electrifying the line to Wales’s second city, Swansea, provided a sufficiently strong business case can be produced.

And we in the Wales Office are also working closely with the Department for Transport and the Treasury on plans to electrify the South Wales Valleys lines, which would be of immense benefit to some of the most depressed parts of Wales.

Upgrading the M4 around Newport is a priority too.

We are listening carefully to the business case and are prepared to see what we can do to help.

And efficient, fast broadband is also of vital importance to every modern economy.

But in Wales, there are too many areas with slow speeds, too many not-spots.

So we have made £59 million available to the Welsh Assembly Government to roll out superfast broadband across Wales.

The Welsh Government now needs to put its delivery plan into action.

And we are quite prepared – indeed, anxious – to work with them on that.

But there are some areas where delivery is firmly the Welsh Government’s sole responsibility.

It should, frankly, be doing more to upgrade Wales’s road network.

Take the A494 road at Ewloe.

The upgrading of that stretch of road is a matter of top priority to the economy of the United Kingdom as a whole, given that it is part of the main European transport route to Holyhead.

It has been neglected for far too long.

So we are looking to the Welsh Government to see what proposals it has for the urgent upgrade of that stretch of road.

Peroration

Ladies and gentlemen, there is much to do.

Wales has languished in the economic slow lane for far too long.

The Eurostats figures I referred to earlier should be a wake-up call to all of us.

The regeneration of the Welsh economy is too important to allow petty issues of personality or territoriality to get in the way of a business-like and efficient relationship between the Wales’s two governments.

Let me now state quite clearly: we in Westminster are prepared to do our part.

But in return, we expect a positive and grown-up response from Cardiff.

Wales is a proud and ancient nation.

As a Welshman, I consider it nothing short of a national disgrace that it continues to need bail-outs from Europe alongside impoverished Balkan nations.

Cheryl and I have high ambitions for Wales.

We want all of Wales to show the dynamism that is displayed here at Glyndŵr OpTIC.

We want Wales to reach for the stars, too.

And we want the Welsh Government to work closely with us to that end. 

ENDS

All change

A long first day back at Westminster, the most dramatic event of which was the announcement by Gordon Brown of his intended resignation as Labour leader.  I wish I could find some suitable words of praise for him, or of regret at his departure, but I can’t.  Let’s leave it at that.

This evening, there was a meeting of the Parliamentary Conservative party in committee room 14, the biggest in the House.  It was so full that it could scarcely accommodate all the Members who turned up.  We are now a very big party indeed.

After the meeting, some of us adjourned to the smoking room (where smoking isn’t allowed, by the way).  That, too, was full of Tories.  It was particularly satisfying  to sit at an all-Welsh Conservative table.

This Parliament is going to be very different from the last.  The negotiations continuing among the three principal parties will determine its shape, if not necessarily its duration.

Welcome support from Plaid

Mr Ieuan Wyn Jones, the leader of Plaid Cymru in the Welsh Assembly, says that a hung Parliament would be “the best outcome for Wales”.

Nice to see that he is looking forward so eagerly to the prospect of substantial Tory gains, and I can assure him that we will be doing our very best to surpass even those  unexpected ambitions.

Sound sense from Julie

I’m delighted to see that one of the first-time Conservative voters featured on the party’s new poster campaign is Julie Fallon of Llandudno.

Julie, who volunteers at the Happy Faces charity shop,  also features in a video produced by the party.  It’s worth hearing what she has to say:

Welcome, Mohammad

I am delighted to welcome the former Plaid Cymru Assembly member, Mohammad Ashgar and his daughter, Natasha, a former Plaid European candidate, to the Conservative party.

Mr Ashgar told a news conference today that he felt “out of tune” with Plaid policies, in particular its desire for an independent Wales, and believes in “the Royal family and one United Kingdom”.

In other words, Mr Ashgar considers Plaid to be a subversive, separatist party that wants to break up our country and render Wales an insignificant province of a European superstate.  Which, of course, it is.

I am sure that Mr Ashgar will soon find himself completely at home in the Conservative party, which wholly reflects his own values.

Sunny Gordon

In an interesting, not to say quixotic, attempt at repositioning, Gordon Brown, in an interview  in the Telegraph this morning, seeks to portray himself as a sunny optimist, in contrast to the doom-and-gloom mongers of the Conservative party.

It is “simply not true”, says Mr Brown, that tough economic times lie ahead.  No, says the PM, his drive for economic growth will pull the country out of recession; with Gordon at the helm, Labour are going to let the good times roll.

Gratifying as it is to see this hitherto unsuspected Louis Armstrong side to the Prime Minister’s personality, it is unlikely that his new line will cut much ice with an informed electorate.  The Treasury’s own figures indicate that:

  • the social security bill will mount to almost £200 billion in four years’ time – almost twice the NHS budget;
  • debt interest will rise to £63 billion per annum;
  • the total cost of welfare and debt maintenance will amount to one-third of government expenditure.

In the circumstances, it’s rather hard to see that the Tories are being anything other than totally realistic when they warn of hard years to come.   Giving a cheery whistle, as Gordon appears to be advising, isn’t really going to help an awful lot.

Cameron’s clarion call

The Conservative party conference was by a considerable measure the best I have attended.  I have blogged already about the excellence of Manchester as a venue, but excellent also was the party’s own organisation, design and choreography.  As Steve Richards puts it in this morning’s Independent:

Tonally their conference was pitch perfect, conveying a seriousness of purpose and without a hint of complacent triumphalism.

David Cameron’s speech was excellent: a clarion call not only to his party, but to his country, giving a vision of how life could be once the dead hand of Labour’s big state is finally wrenched away:

I won’t promise things I cannot deliver. But I can look you in the eye and tell you that in a Conservative Britain:

If you put in the effort to bring in a wage, you will be better off. If you save money your whole life, you’ll be rewarded. If you start your own business, we’ll be right behind you. If you want to raise a family, we’ll support you. If you’re frightened, we’ll protect you. If you risk your safety to stop a crime, we’ll stand by you. If you risk your life to fight for your country, we will honour you.

Ask me what a Conservative government stands for and the answer is this, we will reward those who take responsibility, and care for those who can’t.

Family, community, country: I, for one, can happily go into battle under that banner.

Tory truth or Labour la-la

The Telegraph this morning carries an intelligent article by Benedict Brogan on the issue of political honesty.  I strongly urge you to read it.

This week has been notable for a string of straight-talking speeches by a succession of shadow cabinet members, with George Osborne’s the most notable of all.  If there were any lingering doubts abroad before the week started that the Tories were going to take tough choices that would affect each and every one of us, they must surely have been dispelled by now.

Anyone who cares about the integrity of our political process, whether or not intending to vote Conservative, would, I hope, approve of this.  The present economic outlook is so appallingly bleak that whoever wins in May next year will have to make the toughest taxing and spending decisions for a generation.

There is no doubt that the Conservative approach of levelling with the electorate is not without its risks.  Nobody likes to be told that the next few years will be less comfortable than what we have grown used to.  That is probably why Labour, at its conference last week, funked the issue; and why Gordon Brown, even after abandoning his “Tory cuts v Labour investment” mantra, still felt constrained to reel off a string of uncosted spending pledges that he must surely know can never be fulfilled.

Nevertheless, Cameron and Osborne are undoubtedly right to tell the British people that it’s going to be tougher going for the next few years. 

And, in truth, they are saying nothing that that the British people don’t know already; but they are paying them the respect of treating them as adults.

The interesting, and crucial, question is whether, next May, the electorate will decide it prefers Tory straightforwardness to Labour la-la.  I think it’s grown-up enough to opt for honesty.

For the man who has everything

NHS

The exhibitors’ area at the conference is huge this year – the biggest I can ever remember. 

Yesterday, I went on a tour of the stands and met a number of the exhibitors, including NHS procurement (pictured), the Kennel Club, the RNID, where I took a hearing test in a blue telephone box and Sky TV, where I was given a demo of the new Sky 3D system (unbelievable, but requiring the wearing of rather outré spectacles; the photograph recording  the experience has been suppressed in order to protect the innocent, i.e., me).tshirt

The Conservative merchandising stand had a huge array of must-buys, including the obligatory teddy bears; somewhat over-the-top Christmas tree decorations; lurid, besloganned t-shirts and some fantastic retro posters, which I must get for the Association office.

Time to behave like grown-ups

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.

Bounce over

Labour have been spinning furiously that the Sun’s defection is of little relevance in this electronic age.

Consider, then, this rolling poll from YouGov.  After Brown’s speech, but before yesterday’s Sun was published, the pollster recorded that the gap between the Conservatives and Labour had closed to 7 points – Labour’s best showing for months and evidence of a standard conference bounce that should have lasted at least a few days.

The latest poll, however, shows that the Tory lead is back to 14 points – ample evidence of the significance of the Sun’s endorsement.

Playing Plaid at home

The Western Mail informs us that “firebrand” MP Adam Price is to deliver a “scathing attack” on the Conservatives at Plaid Cymru’s annual conference, in which he will say:

“The future political battle in Wales will be between Plaid in Wales and the Tories in London.” 

Given that the Tories topped the poll at the last set of national elections in Wales and Plaid Cymru could only finish third, he will probably find that the battle is in fact  a lot closer to home.

Gordon surrenders on spending

Brown surrender

Looks like Gordon Brown  has run up the white flag on spending.

Liam Byrne, Chief Secretary to the Treasury, has today announced that the pre-Budget report will outline plans to halve the Government’s spending deficit over four years.

Byrne says that this can be done while at the same time protecting public services:

“In the Pre-Budget Report we will set out in more detail how we will halve the deficit over four years and protect those public services which we think are key to helping people make the most of the future in this country.”

Evidently, those public services that are not considered “key” will not be protected.

So bang goes the famous Brownian dividing line of “Tory cuts v Labour investment”.   Watching Gordon attempting to explain that one away will be hugely entertaining.

Why I am proud to be a Conservative

Dafydd El being helpful again

Elis ThomasThe Welsh Assembly’s presiding officer, Lord Elis-Thomas, who has done such sterling work in the cause of  furthering  good relations between Westminster and Cardiff, is apparently to make a speech at the national Eisteddfod in Bala today in which he will suggest that, after the general election, “a Tory-dominated Welsh Affairs Committee could attempt to thwart new powers coming to the Assembly”.

The Welsh select committee currently has three Conservative members. It also has one member from Plaid Cymru.   Every report of the committee on legislative competence proposals has been delivered unanimously; not once has a Conservative demurred from the contents of a report or sought to deliver a minority opinion.  Nor, for that matter, has the Plaid Cymru member.  There is consequently no obvious basis whatever for Lord Elis-Thomas’s typically inflammatory assertion.

Lord Elis-Thomas’s overtly and provocatively political stance sits oddly with what ought to be his neutral role as presiding officer. 

I wonder how he would react if Speaker Bercow were to start criticising or second-guessing the workings of an Assembly committee. 

No doubt, in his usual moderate and measured manner.