A view from the Vale
Bubble — By Alun Cairns MP AM on June 9, 2010 3:55 pm
Nessa goes into labour - Barry goes the opposite way
The constituency’s three prime towns are Cowbridge, Llantwit Major and Barry. The Romans built a small fort in Cowbridge in the 1st century. In 1254, Sir Richard de Clare, the Lord of Glamorgan, granted the town its first charter and in 1886 Cowbridge was the last recipient of a royal charter given by Queen Victoria. David Lloyd George and Iolo Morganwg have strong links to the town, which was the birthplace of Sir Leoline Jenkins, who was the principal of Jesus College, Oxford.
Llantwit Major came to prominence with the foundation of a monastery, which was established by St Illtud in the late 5th century. It became a seat of learning and religion, attracting royalty and St David himself. It is the nearest town to St Athan, with its significant RAF base which is the proposed site of the £13 billion defence technical college. I strongly support that policy.
Barry, too, has a great history. The name derives from St Baruc, who was drowned in the Bristol channel and buried on Barry island. The rapid expansion of the town dates back to 1884, when a group of colliery owners built a railway line and a dock, but interestingly the original Barry Dock and Railway Bill was defeated in Parliament in 1883. By 1913, Barry had become the largest coal-exporting port in the world, and the railway line also brought millions of tourists to Barry island to enjoy one of Wales’s most spectacular beaches.
Latterly, the town has become well known because of an Essex boy and a Barry girl -Gavin and Stacey. Even a former right hon. Member of this House, John Prescott, has appeared in an episode with Nessa, Smithy and the other characters. Stacey and uncle Bryn live on the steepest road in my constituency, and the Essex home in the programme is actually located in Dinas Powys, in my constituency. I apologise in advance, Mr Deputy Speaker, should I ever ask, “What’s occurring?” or should I thank you by saying, “Tidy”. The new interest in the town, combined with the regeneration efforts of the local authority, mean that Barry has an exciting future ahead of it.
Although the Vale of Glamorgan’s gross domestic product is at or slightly above the UK average, there are great differences between its communities. The overall headline masks the deprivation, which has its roots in the change from the former industries, and because the GDP of other parts of Wales is lower, areas of deprivation in my constituency are left wanting. I want to fight for equality of opportunity. I was contacted last week by a constituent who had been made unemployed and did not qualify for training support to enhance his prospects because he lived in the Vale of Glamorgan. Had he lived in the neighbouring authority area, he would have been eligible for projects that receive European aid.
I wish to conclude my remarks by returning to the issue of the proposed defence technical college, which is the largest private finance initiative scheme. I recognise that the strategic defence review needs to take place and that the Government also face financial challenges, but this project would use money that is already committed and is already being spent by the Ministry of Defence, and it would spend it more efficiently and effectively. We owe this to our armed forces; it is important to Wales and the Welsh economy, but it is most important for our brave men and women who serve in our armed forces, because it will give them the world-class training that they most desperately need and deserve.
- This is an excerpt from Alun Cairns MP AM’s maiden speech to Parliament, delivered yesterday evening
Tags: Alun Cairns, defence, Economy, Vale of Glamorgan
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13 Comments
no speeches from him in the assembly of late i notice?
Indeed Steve- the Tory Management board in Wales ruled that they would ask Cairns to stay on until 2011 elections. Why? There is a democratic deficit now as Alun Cairns is failing to represent the people of South Wales West. He hasn’t been to the Assembly for the main sessions since being elected an MP. This is unacceptable. Other parties have systems whereby the next person on the list is elected if an AM stands down for any reason, so too should the Tories.
Seriously – must we go through this charade of pretending to be outraged that Alun Cairns will spend a brief period under a dual mandate? His Westminster constituency is within his Assembly region, so he’ll be able to attend to constituents’ problems in both legislatures. He will obviously be replaced next May, so the period he’ll spend under the dual mandate is considerably shorter than Dafydd Wigley did from 1999-2001 and not much longer than Cynog Dafis (May 1999-Feb 2000). Both of those chose to concentrate their divided time in Cardiff Bay because it was where their futures lay, and nobody complained about a supposed democratic deficit. The same should apply for Alun Cairns. It’s clearly not an ideal situation, but I think it can be tolerated in certain circumstances for a limited period.
I once had a conversation with Ian Paisley in which he declared himself the holder of a quadruple mandate – councillor, MLA, MP and MEP! Although the last General Election largely removed the dual mandated NI MPs/MLAs they have managed it OK. So I think we should take the expressions of indignation with a very large pinch of salt.
His Constituency ain’t in the same Assembly region, but I agree that it’s hard to get worked up about the dual mandate. The fact that he is staying on though is far more to do with the Conservatives blocking their own Chris Smart who would automatically take the vacant seat. They’ve also now introduced new selection rules for regions which will block Mr Smart again
“His Westminster constituency is within his Assembly region”
It isn’t, although you’d think so from his press record of the past 6 months!
I for one haven’t got a problem with overlaps in dual mandate and it isn’t Cairns’ fault that the man beneath him on the list has an unacceptable record. I am much more disdainful of the lack of democracy and consistency in a Welsh Tory party that I want to believe has changed. There’s the keeping out of this guy with a dodgy record (I know Plaid had Oscar but this is alot worse), and then there’s the absence of democracy and the ‘old politics’ of giving Mohammed Asghar an Assembly seat and his daughter a job! I’d say that’s a cause for indignation, given that those kind of practices are meant to have been outlawed. It gives a bad name to the Assembly.
Luke/Davey
I stand thoroughly corrected. Ta both.
More neoMarxist rubbish from the Welsh Nationalist youth
Callum
You’ve posted a comment which I’m not going to publish – see the ad hominem rule of our Comment Policy. Please feel free to post something that isn’t a personal attack.
p.s I alone have made this decision, and Alun Cairns is not a friend of mine.
Given that we know he won’t be standing for the next Assembly elections, it doesn’t bother me that much. Anyway, he’s not the only one. Peter Black is a Cllr on Swansea council and an AM- that doesn’t seem to bother anyone quite as much?!
No comments on the Defence Technical College? With the Government handing over armed services training to the private sector, who will need to turn a profit, God know what will end up being trained at St Athan.
Unusually, I disagree with Adam Higgitt. Adam says “Cairns’s … dual mandate … [is] clearly not an ideal situation, but I think it can be tolerated in certain circumstances for a limited period”. The situation may be permissible, under relevant legislation; but I don’t think it’s either “tolerable” or defensible. It’s surely not acceptable for any party represented in the Assembly to play fast-and-loose with voters’ rights to full representation.
Cairns SHOULD have resigned his Assembly seat on 7th May. That he didn’t demonstrates his indifference to the rights of South Wales West electors to full representation in the Assembly; and it further demonstrates the Welsh Tories’ poor judgement (or shallow talent pool?) in including the name of an undesirable candidate (to them) on a regional list.
Guv’s terse comment “More neoMarxist rubbish from the Welsh Nationalist youth” has confused me. I’ve had a good old rummage through the posts above, and I haven’t been able to find ANY Marxist comments, old or new.
I wonder what Guv thinks Marxism is?
I don’t think that his dual role is a huge problem as regional list AMs do very little anyway and this just illustrates that we can quite easily do away with a whole tier of unnecessary expensive politicians.
Of more concern is that yet another expense troughing politician has been returned to Westminster.
The Vale of Glamorgan Conservative association should hang their heads in shame at even nominating Cairns in the first place.
Gez wrote: “It’s surely not acceptable for any party represented in the Assembly to play fast-and-loose with voters’ rights to full representation.”
It’s ultimately their decision though, and if you and your party disagree you should try and remedy that at the ballot box next year. For my part I agree with Adam, as I wrote here:
http://waleshome.org/2010/05/comings-and-goings-and-stayings/
Kevin Mahoney wrote: “I don’t think that his dual role is a huge problem as regional list AMs do very little anyway and this just illustrates that we can quite easily do away with a whole tier of unnecessary expensive politicians.”
What a sweeping statement! It is both insulting and inaccurate. Regional AMs are as hard working as those directly elected from single constituencies. The demands placed on them are slightly different but, I would suggest, certainly not less. Democracy in Wales would be poorer without them. Abolishing a third of the Assembly would not improve it in any way shape or form (unless you fall into the school that believes that a single party Labour state is what suits Wales best).
Presumably you would ultimately extend that abolition to all Assembly Members – that’s the real agenda here, yes?