CAMBRIA POLITICO

Tory David Jones gets the cold-shoulder

Welsh Conservatives, Welsh Politics 7 Responses »

May 192010

EXPECT DAVID Jones, the right-wing MP from Clwyd West, to find himself slightly frozen out from key decisions in the new Wales Office, writes Clive Betts from the Assembly press gallery.

Some time ago, Mr Jones, a solicitor with one of the poshest practices in Llandudno – with offices in a big house on Trinity Square in heart of the town – put forward a plan to deal with the policy differences in Wales produced by devolution.

At the time, he claimed his intention was to ensure that devolution worked “better”.

By better, he surely meant, more like England.

Cheryl Gillan, then the shadow Secretary of State, to her shame accepted the plan and ensured it was incorporated in the party’s part-winning Westminster election manifesto. Part-winning because the Tories didn’t win enough votes to form a government and had to form a coalition with the Lib Dems.

Now, of course, Ms Gillan is the Secretary of State.

In the Wales Office.

Because she hasn’t yet got around to changing it to Welsh Office, its “ancient” title. And perhaps she’ll never make the change.

After all, it wouldn’t do to upset Darren Millar, the Tory AM for Clwyd West, who got lots of headlines not that long ago through attacking the Assembly government for spending far too much money over changing the title of some Cardiff government office or other.

Of course, Darren presumably doesn’t see eye to eye with his local MP on that essential issue of devolution. For – whisper it quietly – Darren has the dread “f” word appended to his beliefs. For he is a federalist – as is David Melding, of South Central. And no doubt others, too, within the Tory ranks.

Ms Gillan seems one of those Tories who has been truly converted to devolution. Together with David Cameron. And chancellor George Osbourne. And foreign minister William Hague.

So, what’s the position of Mr Jones ? I was told yesterday by one of those close to the centre of the party, “Things have changed. I wouldn’t worry about David now.”

Which makes the Lib Dems’ lack of a minister within the Wales Office less of something to worry about.

The press belief that all ministries possess a Liberal Democrat member was wrong, we were told by the party’s Welsh leader Kirsty Williams.

It is very early days as yet, but the feeling that Mr Cameron is using the Liberal Democrats as an instrument to turn his own party back to its former one-nation beliefs was heightened after this week’s briefings.

Mr Cameron travelled to Cardiff on Monday to meet the Assembly – in detail, apparently, the First Minister, his Plaid deputy, and the presiding officer.

Mr Bourne and Ms Williams were also involved in meetings. Those two are both hardly a part of the Assembly Government. But they are members of parties who are linked in another coalition.

How things change. You speak to both the government and to the opposition. How Continental in its arrangements.

No wonder the Assembly Government has repatriated from Brussels one of its senior officials who has been in that city for several years, linking with the European Union and its member states and their component parts (ie regions).

In early days, the Assembly’s office in Brussels was dubbed its embassy.

When Cambria proposed to the official in question that he had been brought back because of his experience in international affairs, bearing in mind the political differences between Cardiff and London, he just smiled and bowed.

Nothing is to be read into either gesture !

These three Tories should do the decent thing and join UKIP

Welsh Politics No Responses »

Nov 182009

THE CONSERVATIVES moved yet further into the pre-Assembly camp. Of course the group wants more powers for this place, party leader Nick Bourne told the weekly press briefing, writes Clive Betts from the Assembly press gallery.

Well, what about more AMs to cope with the amount of work currently involved, he was asked.

Particularly in the view of the party’s aim to reduce the number of MPs at Westminster?

To which we obtained no reply, beyond a touch of humming and haa-ing.

Currently, of course, the numbers of MPs and AMs are closely linked.

But everyone acknowledges that 60 AMs is insufficient.

Think of all the policy-influencing and scrutiny that has had to be abandoned through the ending of the subject committee shodowing each minister. These bodies met every fortnight; and every month the minister had to give a long report on which he or she was closely questioned (interrogated might be a better word).

These reports were by far the best source of information on what was happening within the Assembly and in particular the government.

But they have gone; forced out of existence by lack of AMs and time.

You could almost see Nick Bourne weeping tears at what has been lost.

So, would the Tories carry over the attack on the number of Westminster politicians to include those at Cardiff Bay ?

No reply.

Instead, we were presented with the need for longer working hours in terms of Assembly sessions.

But as the Tories rightly claim that much of the time in Assembly sessions is taking up with the mouthing of political platitudes for pretty much no point whatsoever, could it be that Mr Bourne is secretly creaming of the return of the old-style committee sessions.

Does that mean he wants to isolate Cardiff as much as possible from the politicians-axing that would get under way at Westminster when the Tories take power ?

Of course, no-one would really complain if the Tories axed those troglodytes in Monmouth, Preseli and Clwyd West. David Davies, Stephen Crabb and David Jones are so much out of touch with modern Toryism that they should go off and do the decent thing.

Resign the Tory whip and join UKIP They we’d see whether they are popular enough to get re-elected.

Tories and ‘the slippery slope’

Independence, Welsh Conservatives, Welsh Politics No Responses »

Oct 092009

DAVID MELDING spelled out a few Conservative principles to the weekly Conservative party briefing, writes Clive Betts from the Assembly press gallery.

Some journalists almost-presumed the briefing would not have been held because the party’s UK conference was then currently under way in Manchester.

But it was – unlike the Lib Dem do, which was ditched because they were all in conference and didn’t think that either the press or Wales was important enough to turn up for.

But the principles that Mr Melding spelled out had nothing to do with federalism or any other sort of devolutionary development which he himself personally favours.

Mr Melding spoke rather of the present system of Legislative Competence Orders (“elcos”) being both “very untidy” and a “dog’s breakfast”.

His principle for government was that the legislative process should be clear and easy to understand. The present system is however like the soup which can be found in any canal – these are not his words, but mine – with anything passing through likely to find their passage snagged by hidden underwater debris, dumped there by Labour Party anti-devolution members – again my words, not his.

Mr Melding stated the obvious – that his party is not united on devolution. He reckoned it was split in three equal parts – pro extra powers; happy with the present split between Cardiff and London; or favouring the abolition of devolution.

Then he brought into our gaze another Tory principle – that Cardiff and London should work together within the UK. He spoke of the Prime Minister coming down to Cardiff to be quizzed by the Assembly.

And the committees established by Labour – but seldom used; some of them encompassing the old Irish Free State – to link the devolved nations and London would meet regularly at First Minister level.

These committees’ inactivity is surely a not-unimportant reason why the relatively new Irish consulate in Cardiff, staffed by a full-time Irish foreign ministry official, is being abolished.

Cheryl Gillan, the shadow Secretary of State, spelled out the latest stage of thinking on that principle in her Tory conference speech. It sounded pretty good – the problem, however, is the party politics which could so soon come to dominate proceedings of meetings between Cardiff and London, instead of being just one our of many strands of that committee’s existence.

Ms Gillan said, “We are examining the mechanisms for joint working between the two institutions [Assembly and Parliament] and will be aiming for cooperation to achieve this.”

Mr Melding talked of the changes the Tories will bring in as being not much more than the formalisation of what currently happens (behind the scenes, of course, between Labour and Labour-led governments in the two cities).

Ms Gillan’s speech sounded reasonable – as you would expect from a one-nation, non-dogmatic Welsh Tory. Reading her words, it was difficult to pick out the gaps into which political opponents – of her own party in London, rather than the Nationalists in Cardiff she professed to fear – will wriggle in order to cause trouble.

But once trouble starts, particularly between two democratically-elected institutions, it would prove extraordinarily difficult to eradicate.

Mr Melding acknowledged the relationship between Cardiff and London once the party in control is each city is different would be “more difficult”.

But as a fellow non-dogmatic, one nation Welsh Tory, Mr Melding is examining things from the same point of view as Ms Gillan.

But there’s another standpoint. It is held by Ms Gillan’s assistant (or should it be “deputy”) David Jones, MP for Clwyd West.

When he spoke to Cambria at the Tory conference in Cardiff this spring, he used much the same words as Ms Gillan. But he pitched them in a different direction.

Simply, Ms Gillan wants Cardiff and London both to know what the other is planning and doing.

Mr Jones wants to know the same sort of information. But his aim is different. It is to ensure that Cardiff does the same as London. Mr Jones is an anti-devolutionist.

Wales can be different, he feels, only as long as it is not different.

I personally can hardly imagine Wales ever voting for independence.

But everyone in Ireland (the 32 counties) did not always wish to be independent, although a few did.

The events of 1916 and the execution of the leaders changed that for ever. For which you can blame contemporary Tories.

There’s no chance of any similar repetition in Wales.

Our troubles are purely constitutional, with the rare exceptions, such as those who blew themselves up on Abergele station, and John Jenkins, who is still with us (see Freedom Fighers, by John Humphries, University of Wales Press).

But the Tories should realise they are currently standing atop a slope which could easily prove to be very slippery.

It they aren’t careful, they’ll push us all down that slope. And goodness knows where we’ll end up then.

David Jones’s stupidity sets Wales on the path towards independence

Welsh Conservatives, Welsh Politics 12 Responses »

Mar 302009

I am sorry to report that the Conservative Party remains divided over the future of devolution after their spring Welsh conference in Cardiff.

Of course, really they are united. They are all singing the same message.

It is just that the key in which they sing – which determines both the mood of the politician-singer and his background aim – is not the same for all the party.

In other words, some wish devolution had never happened, and will do as much as they can to swim backwards. And others accept the change brought about by the Labour government, and will now do their damn best to make sure it works well; if that means substantially more powers, so be it.

The latter group includes, it seems, the heart of the party – shadow chancellor George Osborne certainly, leader David Cameron if he’s got any sense, former Welsh Secretary William Hague (unless he wants to be kicked out of bed), Nick Bourne, plus a number of key members of the Welsh Assembly.

It certainly does not include David Davies (Monmouth MP) and the coterie of backwoodsmen hiding in what used to be the Wentwood Forest. But they have made themselves scarce for some time now – except in phone calls to the Western Mail. Which has helped to earn that journal once again its olden title of Llais y Sais.

As the conference ended, leader Cameron tried to switch the agenda from extra powers for Cardiff to extra listening – by London, if I understand his words aright. The (Tory) PM would travel once a year to Cardiff to be quizzed by AMs. And London ministers would have to give evidence to Assembly committees.

At last, a touch of equality and, perhaps, humility.

But then there’s another, a third, group of Tories. How large it is difficult to say. They stand on the sensible Right. They’ll always be there, although their size will vary as politics flows.

I’ll name as their leader the MP for Clwyd West, David Jones, the shadow Minister for Wales. Mr Jones was for a short time a regional member for the Assembly for North. He succeeded right-winger Rod Richards after he hit various problems.

The pair came from the same wing of the party. But then their similarities ceased. Rod let his heart lead; he failed to realise their Mrs T was no longer in charge; he equally failed to adapt to the loss of the Assembly referendum; and then in turn he failed to realise that it was possible to turn that defeat into a victory (eventually).

His successor, we quickly realised, was a different animal. The general view of the press gallery was that Mr Jones was as cool about the Assembly as Mr Richards had been. But Mr Jones was looking towards the future.

His own future, for one thing. This tall angular-faced Llandudno solicitor, once elected to Parliament, wanted to climb. In age, he’s getting on a bit. But he’s already a shadow minister, and you can be sure he wouldn’t mind getting the Welsh seat in the cabinet.

When a member of the Assembly, he never put a foot out of the Tory line. What ever reservations he had about devolution, he realised there was far more than one way to skin a cat.

As the conference wound to its close in Cardiff, he unveiled his own way. On behalf of the party, he put forward his own view of how things should develop. The new Tory plan is “to restore sanity to relations between Westminster and Cardiff Bay”.

He and the party want “to restore a sensible dialogue between London and Cardiff”.

His plan seems sense incarnate. Very carefully, he phrased his speech to give the impression that the idea had came from Cheryl Gillan, shadow Secretary of State.

Now, did the idea originate with Ms Gillan ? Or was it carefully presented by Mr Jones in a way that it would have been difficult for her to reject ?

For the sole idea of the Jones plan is to subordinate Cardiff to London.

The Tories would establish “a new committee of Welsh and English MPs comprised of members with constituencies adjoining or close to the border, who will continuously monitor the impact of devolution in both Wales and England.

“The committee will report to the Secretary of State for Wales, who will in turn liaise with both the Welsh Assembly Government and the appropriate Whitehall departments.”

The aim will be to “smooth out the wrinkles resulting from devolution”. Those “wrinkles” are the ones in which Wales is not identical to England. In other words, back to centralism and rule from London.

Why bother with the Assembly – unless it behaves identically to England…

Is this a joint committee with the Assembly ?

Don’t be bloody silly ! It’s only for members of another institution which never sits in Wales.

We have seen how even strong devolutionists on the Welsh Affairs Select Committee toe the anti-devolution line when that’s the way the political wind is blowing.

Should Mr Jones become Secretary of State, we trust he will wear Governor-General plumes when he descends on Cardiff four times a year to keep the welshies in check and tell them how to behave.

After all, assembled before him there will even be a true colonial. But, beware. Mohammad Asghar (Plaid, South East) has strong links to senior levels in the Pakistani armed forces. And goodness knows what that lot have been up to….

Mr Jones asks critics to list his anti-devolution quotations.

No need. By your policies you shall be judged.

And the Jones policies just happen to be diagrammatically opposed to those of leader Cameron. Mr Cameron’s new green paper points up a revived Tory radicalism for our local authorities.

A full-page article in the current issue of Prospect talks of the size of the revolution which the Tories are about to embark on.

Mr Jones’s devolution policy shows either that Mr Cameron’s green paper is sheer rubbish. Or that his committee will never be set up – which is rather likely in the light of the speech that Mr Cameron delivered the following day.

If Mr Jones’s committee does go ahead, it will be the greatest boost to separation and independence for Wales ever to have been invented. A Tory-dominated Parliament and some of its English members telling the elected body for Wales what it must do.

Should be fun for journalists. And for bureaucrats in New York who will work out whether the 22 counties of Wales are listed under C or W in the list of members of the United Nations.

Language LCO battle – Tory versus Tory

Welsh Conservatives, Welsh Politics 5 Responses »

Feb 032009

A division of opinion has surely appeared between Tories in the Assembly and those in the Commons on the most contentious political issue affecting Wales.

Heritage minister Alun Ffred Jones today launched the Legislative Competence Order on the Welsh language into the choppy waters of both the Assembly and Parliament.

It’s in Parliament – and particularly the Commons – that the real trouble will occur. A number of members of the Welsh Affairs Select Committee have already taken to attempting to – and sometimes succeeding in - rewriting LCOs.

In the case of the housing LCO recently, the committee succeeded, through a process of salami slicing, in removing one of the Assembly’s stated aims, to halt permanently in certain geographical areas the sale of council houses. In other words, a democratically-elected body was overruled by an imperial body whose members have no say any longer over this area of policy.

I reckon the same is about to happen with the language LCO. It is almost impossible to believe that the Tory MPs of the imperial chamber will not attempt to delete part of the LCO they will be considering.

But I’m delighted to report that a deep split seems to be opening on this point between the Tories of Wales and the imperial members in London.

A plea too dangerous to reject for Tory devolution loyalty

Welsh Politics No Responses »

Nov 242008

Tory rebels against the party’s rapidly-developing devolution policy had better watch out.

One of the longest-standing sceptics has told them that there’s a limit to disagreement. David Jones, MP for Clwyd West and former northern regional AM, then rubbed in his message by making clear that arch-devolutionist and Assembly group leader Nick Bourne is the best man for the job right through to the 2011 election.

He made his otherwise-unreported remarks at the Tories’ southern policy forum conference in Cardiff.

Some of his comments were, in my opinion, a big loony. Giving a set speech, he started off largely on the issue of the new Planning Act. Apparently, some of its key issues will not be introduced by the Assembly.

These cover items such as replacing public planning inquiries – which, on very controversial issues, can drag on for exceedingly long periods – with a simply and qucker method. Mr Jones gave the example of the proposed fifth runway for Heathrow – which would, indeed, drag on for ever.

What about similar projects in Wales, he asked. Like improvevements to the A470 North-South trunk road.

If Mr Jones, a respected solicitor, had thought a bit, he might not have tried to make that point. Comparing the A470 to the fifth runway hardly makes sense. The only equivalent is Pembrokeshire County Council’s use of an unusual procedure to demand a rethink and fbuilding of four lanes for an improvement of the A40 past Robeston Wathen. That has been quickly dealt with by the calling of a short series of Assembly committee meetings in Cardiff.

For more important were the comments which followed from this dedicated party loyalist. Dealing with the next Westminster election, he said, “We will not achieve victory unless we are 100 per cent united.”

He then came on to the party group. Again he laid down the law. Without giving any details, Mr Jones said of Mr Bourne, “He has not always had an easy ride.” Could that refer to criticisms by the Right of his pro-devolution policy. Or of his distancing himself from the 39-page Rhodri Morgan - Leadership Without Purpose, with its couple of sentences which Mr Bourne believed had gone too far.

Whatever, Mr Jones went straight on: “NIck Bourne is the right man to lead the Assembly campaign in 2011. He has the total support of all his colleagues in the House. We must show that we are united, particularly here in Wales,”

Assembly-sceptic Ann invents a fishy problem with England

Welsh Politics No Responses »

Sep 292008

As a true daughter of Rhyl, we can presumably assume that Ann Jones, AM for Vale of Clywd, is a lover of fish and chips, and has the interests of that creature which now swims in batter but which used to swim in the sea truly at heart.

That presumably accounts for her plenary question ridiculing the planned introduction of different fishing regimes on either side of the Welsh-English border. Continue reading »

Tory David Jones gets the cold-shoulder

These three Tories should do the decent thing and join UKIP

Tories and ‘the slippery slope’

David Jones’s stupidity sets Wales on the path towards independence

Language LCO battle – Tory versus Tory

A plea too dangerous to reject for Tory devolution loyalty

Assembly-sceptic Ann invents a fishy problem with England

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