Mae Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau Is Not Dear To Cheryl

Says it all

Keir watched from the gallery yesterday as Welsh MPs Huw Irranca-Davies and Chris Bryant became noticeably agitated by the statement made to the House by Transport Secretary Phil Hammond.

Further to Keir's last post about the issue of rail electrification, it seems the Government is indeed intent on leaving Wales with a 20th century rail infrastructure as the rest of the UK moves into the 21st. Despite gleefully confirming a wad of investment for England's rail lines, Hammond stalled on committing to electrification from London through to Swansea, all but affirming rumours that the improvements will stop before the border.

Hammond tried to fob the issue off onto the Welsh Assembly Government but, as the First Minister pointed out, this is not a devolved issue.

Now, Hammond is just doing his job. But one person who isn't is Cheryl Gillan. The Welsh Secretary, surely the first Minister who will lose their job in some way or another, has evidently been putting no pressure on her Government on this issue. Gillan is facing increased pressure to resign from her constituents who, as if to highlight the difference between Wales and the place where she resides and represents, are outraged at plans to run the new HS2 rail line through the affluent English constituency. According to Irranca-Davies, Mrs. Gillan has now said she will resign should the HS2 development go ahead; surely she should be making such principled stands on behalf of Wales as well? She isn't. Instead she is making non-committal remarks about how she remains "fully supportive of electrification" and that she "hoped to work with WAG" on the issue.

And the Government's suggestion that there needed to be a stronger business case for electrification to extend to Wales was shown to be nonsense by Rhondda MP Bryant. South Wales and the Valleys needs this development to increase its ability to grow. But it seems the Government is playing stick and stick with Wales; forcing thousands of redundancies from the public sector whilst killing plans like this that would have stimulated private sector growth.

Keir's got a suggestion for a carrot the Government could use though: sack this useless Welsh Secretary and appoint someone to the role who can effectively represent the interests of Wales in this Cabinet of millionaires.

LetUsFaceTheFuture.

Cuts, Cabinet Committees and Carwyn

Okay, so 'Stiflegate' didn't really stick as a label for the issue. But whatever. In case you forgot, this was the name Keir gave to the situation facing Wales given that the new "Welsh" Secretary was only allowed a seat on one Cabinet Committee.

It was Huw Irranca-Davies MP who raised the issue in the Chamber with Mrs. Gillan after Keir sent his open letter to her. The response was typically guarded, defensive and unhelpful; typically Tory.

He didn't let it rest however, raising the issue again at the Welsh Grand Committee.

And the pressure is still on Mrs. Gillan from all over the constitutional framework. First Minister Carwyn Jones is now in on the act. Wales is suffering the consequences of the recent Comprehensive Spending Review because of a lack of "...clout around the Cabinet table," he said. Well, even more simply, it's because of a lack of presence around the Cabinet table.

She doesn't seem to be doing anything about this collective pressure though. Instead, Gillan, seemingly triumphant, declared this week that Wales would only be suffering from a 7.5% budget cut; 2% less than the UK average. Excellent. So Wales is the Koi-Takasu in this Hiroshima of spending cuts.

Every cloud, ay. (Pun intended)

LetUsFaceTheFuture.

Gillan Perks Up

It is at least slightly promising to hear Cheryl Gillan attempting to defend Wales' interests.

The closure of the passport office in Newport would mean hundreds of people going into unemployment as well as the inconvenience and unfairness caused by Wales not having an office.

Let's hope newly re-appointed Shadow Welsh Secretary Peter Hain also puts his bit in. Keir can't help but think Huw Irranca-Davies would have been a much better candidate to oppose Mrs. Gillan over the dispatch box but such is life.

It was somewhat shocking that not one Welsh MP got voted into the Shadow Cabinet. Frankly, the system is bonkers. We all just spent 4 months deciding who we want to lead our party; I'm sure part of the new leader's job should be to appoint the best team he can. Seems as though the party is just using elections to make us seem more democratic. If it's ineffectual, then what's the point? I feel the same about House of Lords reform.

Anyway, Gillan has a huge amount of responsibility to stop these sorts of closures. 300 more unemployed in an area with 9.7% unemployment will not be great to say the least. This will continue. The Tories don't care about Wales, as we can tell from how they treated Welsh voices at party conference. Gillan needs to ensure that lack of care does not manifest itself to the tune of job cuts throughout the country.

LetUsFaceTheFuture.

Gillan Cracks

Keir cares not for the means, so long as the ends are achieved. With that in mind, there is some slight relief to be felt after Cheryl Gillan's recent admission that Wales will be disproportionately hit by the Conservative governments fetish for public sector cuts. Not relief at the fact that Wales will be hardest hit, of course; just relief that she's admitting it.

As you should know, ahem, Keir was banging on about this months ago. Indeed, it was the whole reason for the open letter that Keir sent to Mrs. Gillan and all Welsh officials earlier this year. Maybe Huw Irranca-Davies' persistence and his whole-hearted championing of the issue has helped to make her realise she has a responsibility to serve the people of Wales.

Either way, at least it's got through.

However, it still comes back to the Cabinet Committee problem. In her statement, the Secretary of State says,

"...therefore in budget discussions we are looking at the impact on the Welsh budget".

Well, where better to discuss this than the Economic Affairs Cabinet Committee? But, of course, this is one of the Committees that Mrs. Gillan doesn't have membership on; it's the one that irked Keir the most. This was precisely why it was so important that she sits on that Committee. Precisely the reason Keir took time out of his otherwise busy day to write a polite letter; precisely the reason Huw Irranca-Davies took his question to the House. If she had realised this prior to Huw asking his question, maybe she wouldn't have snapped back like a Buckinghamshire terrier and would have, instead, given a reasoned answer.

At least this gives fellow Welsh MPs more scope to put pressure on Mrs. Gillan to ensure she gives Wales a voice in this new government. The fight can go on.

LetUsFaceTheFuture.

Update on Gillan-gate

Just a quick update on the Cheryl Gillan issue.

After her answer to Huw Irranca-Davies' question, one might have thought that the issue would be dropped. Not so. Keir has never known a Welshman to drop a cause like that so easily. In fact, Keir's sure this one will drag on. "It would not be right to leave this one rest on just one bold attempt," were the encouraging words from the Ogmore MP. He e-mailed Keir to give his thoughts and pointed out how rattled Mrs. Gillan got after being asked the question. "The lady's not for turning", were his apt words. Keir thinks that Mrs. Gillan couldn't care less about the committees she sits on or, for that matter, about Wales.

Irranca-Davies went on to raise the issue again at the seemingly farcical Welsh Grand Committee meeting a few days ago. Reading Betsan's blog is what I'd recommend to get an idea of the somewhat bizarre and shambolic way the new government is running the Welsh Office.

And, finally, the Welsh media have taken up the issue it seems. The Western Mail featured this article last week.

So no developments, but an update nonetheless.

LetUsFaceTheFuture.

More Gillan

After completely failing to answer Huw Irranca Davies's question on Cabinet Committees (not, it seemed, even understanding what the question was) Governor General Cheryl Gillan has been in the news a little more recently. A front page on todays Western Mail no less!

But first: whilst SoS, Peter Hain had Leighton Andrews' former bag carrier David Taylor as his SpAd. Since Gillan has taken over the Welsh Office, she is yet to replace Taylor. She was expected to replace him with Welsh Conservative Press Officer Richard Hazlewood, who has lots of experience in Wales and Welsh Politics. However, rumour has it, that instead, she is going to install her researcher, Oxford Graduate Sam Gibbs (who has no experience in Wales, or of Wales). So the person directly assisting the SoS in organising the Referendum, and representing Wales in government, has as much experience as she does. Very little. Fantastic.

And the Western Mail. Put simply:

High Flying Civil Servant (who happens to be Welsh) queries why the GG insists in staying in the swanky St Davids Hotel in Cardiff Bay (very nice, but very expensive, Keir can attest) rather than at the flat the Welsh Office [perhaps] have (Billy Hague used to stay there: Keir is not sure if they still own it) or in a cheaper hotel, when she is in Wales, seeing as "...we are all in it together." It must be remembered that this is the same woman who now, it seems, rather hypocritically earned the praise of the TaxPayers Alliance by forcing civil servants out of first class.

High Flying Civil Servant (who happens to be Welsh) is moved to the Ministry of Justice.

So does she not want a Welsh civil servant working for her? Does she not want a civil servant who is anything but a yes[wo]man working for her? Welcome to the new politics. Of course, this wouldn't happen if we had a SoS who was, you know, Welsh, and from a Welsh constituency.

To The Dispatch Box

After Keir's small campaign to raise the issue of Cheryl Gillan's lack of memberships on Cabinet Committees, some progress has been made.

As was previously mentioned, Huw Irranca-Davies MP submitted a question for Wales Orals on June 23rd. Keir is pleased to confirm that the question was selected and now the issue, with the help of Mr. Irranca-Davies, is on the Westminster agenda.

Keir knows you will all stay glued to your BBC Parliament screen or Democracy Live stream next Wednesday to see how Mrs. Gillan responds to the question. Keir is instead hoping to be in the public gallery, so will of course report on proceedings.

We have had some positive and supportive responses from Welsh Labour MPs and, as they outnumber Welsh MPs of other parties, the pressure in the house should be in our favour. Also, those Plaid MPs that sit should support our cause. Prepare to seethe, however, as the Tory MPs deny any negative ramifications caused by the Welsh Secretary having barely any memberships to committees. And it won't stop there: LibDem MPs appear to be following the Government line.

In the grand scheme of things, and in the context of it being our parliament with all of it's slow and cumbersome procedures, it is hard to set a tangible and realistic target. One realistic, yet still very optimistic, aim would be for Mrs. Gillan to agree to a meeting with one or more Welsh MPs who take issue with her lack of membership. At least then the MPs who support the cause will be able to produce a more detailed case. Personally, I can't see Mrs. Gillan doing anything but follow the line. The last thing the new, unstable Conservative government needs is a minor wrangle from a Cabinet Minister.

Still, we can but wait and see. Keir very much appreciates what Mr. Irranca-Davies is doing on behalf of the Welsh people.

Terrible Twosome

Notwithstanding his keen reply to our letter about Cheryl Gillan's complete unsuitability to be Secretary of State for Wales, David Davies MP (Con, Monmouth) has been elected unopposed as Chair of the Welsh Affairs Committee. Although it had never been held by anyone other than a Labour MP, the parties had agreed, why, Keir cannot imagine, that the WASC Chair would be held by a Tory.

Keir can only scream. David Davies rivals Cheryl Gillan for complete unsuitability to anything that impacts on Wales.

This is the same David Davies who opposed devolution and campaigned against it in 1997, opposes extension of powers to the Senedd, and last year attended 5 out of 44 meetings of the committee, about 11%. The man the BBC refers to as the '...Tory tornado' will certainly have to improve his attendance, as new rules state that any member with less than 60% attendance can be voted off by his colleagues.

Incidentally, this is also the same David Davies who referred to torture recently as a "bonus" and campaigns for Britain to leave the EU, worrying when Keir considers how important the EU is to the recovery of Wales not only from this recession but the gutting of its economy in the 1970s and 80s.

What sort of a message does it send to Wales as a whole, combining Gillan, (whose only qualification is that she spent the first 11 years of her life in Wales) with Davies? (who is anti-devolution and seemingly, has so interest in the select committee he is now chair of) What sort of issues will be on the agenda with someone who categorically disagrees over Wales's right for even limited self governance?

But it's OK, because

Mr Davies had said he really wanted the job and would get the committee to look at issues which he thought were important to Wales.

How self obsessed is this man? Shouldn't he be looking at issues which ARE important to Wales?

Progress...

A promising development in the Cheryl Gillan situation. It shall hereby be referred to as "Stiflegate".

Huw Irranca-Davies MP, one of Keir's earlier respondents, has been the only MP to take action on this issue in any constructive way. After thanking the man he now calls "Huw" for his initial response, Keir was delighted to hear back from the Ogmore MP as he said,

"Ok. Let's get the ball properly rolling. I have submitted a question for Wales Orals on 23rd June:

'How many Cabinet Committees will she be attending in her role as Secretary of State for Wales?"

This is great news indeed. Keir agrees with Huw as he continued,

"That simple and innocuous question should provide the catalyst for some good exchanges on the inadequate representation of Wales at Cabinet level."

He also said that he has, "...a good feeling in [his] bones" that this question will be selected for the debate.

This is indeed a success. As Huw said, this question should provoke debate in the house and will force Mrs. Gillan to give a response on the issue. She can surely not disagree with what we are saying, so it will be very interesting to hear her views. What is also important is the timing of the question. As Keir suggested to Huw, the issue needs to be raised soon before the new government has settled into its ways and the bums on seats on Committees are comfortable.

It is indeed heartening that for every Gwenda Thomas, there is a Huw Irranca-Davies. Keir will of course inform of any further developments.

LetUsFaceTheFuture.