Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Alun Cairns and Michael Fabricant

Wednesday 4th September 2019 Commons Chamber

[Michael Fabricant (Lichfield) (Con)]

Does my right hon. Friend agree that the 594 pieces of legislation that this Parliament has passed in the event of a no-deal Brexit and the corresponding pieces of legislation passed in Brussels mean that the future for Wales, whether it be deal or no deal, is bright?

[Alun Cairns]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. The UK Government are making comprehensive preparations, in the event of a deal or in the event of no deal, to best position the UK and the Welsh economy to take the new opportunities as we leave the European Union. I am determined to work with colleagues right across Whitehall to ensure that Wales is at the forefront of their thinking.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Alun Cairns and Michael Fabricant

Wednesday 3rd April 2019 Commons Chamber

[Michael Fabricant (Lichfield) (Con)]

6. What recent discussions he has had with the Welsh Government on a permanent home for the display of the Prince of Wales’s investiture regalia in Wales; and if he will make a statement.

[The Secretary of State for Wales (Alun Cairns)]

I commend my hon. Friend for his commitment to this issue. I would be delighted to see the return of His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales’s regalia to Wales. There are many fine residences in Wales that would be suitable to display what some consider to be the Welsh Crown jewels.

[Michael Fabricant]

As you will know, Mr Speaker, the question on Welsh people’s lips at the moment is not Brexit but the royal regalia. Does my right hon. Friend not agree that there are many suitable locations, including Caernarfon castle or, perhaps even better, the National Library of Wales in Aberystwyth, which has a secure place to store them?

[Alun Cairns]

My hon. Friend is persistent, but that demonstrates the importance of the project and its potential to attract tourists to Wales. It is an interesting proposal, and my officials are happy to work with other organisations to see how we can make it a reality. There are security implications, but there are also significant potential benefits.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Alun Cairns and Michael Fabricant

Wednesday 27th February 2019 Commons Chamber

[Alun Cairns]

My right hon. and learned Friend raises an important point. Agriculture is an extremely important part of the Welsh economy and is disproportionately important there compared with the rest of the UK. We would, of course, act in a way that would protect the interests of that economy to ensure that those jobs are there for the long-term future, in spite of any short-term challenge.

[Michael Fabricant (Lichfield) (Con)]

Regardless of whether we have a no-deal Brexit, is my right hon. Friend aware—I am sure he probably is—that it is coming up to the 50th anniversary of the investiture of the Prince of Wales? How can we employ, in that sense of the word, the Prince of Wales’s soft power and so on to promote Wales and the Welsh economy?

[Mr Speaker]

Irrespective of membership of or departure from the European Union, with which matter we would not want to involve him in any way.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Alun Cairns and Michael Fabricant

Wednesday 24th October 2018 Commons Chamber

[Alun Cairns]

The hon. Gentleman will be well aware that that is a plan for and determination of our negotiations. That is exactly what we will seek to agree with the European Union. It is in the UK’s interest, it is in the European Union’s interests and my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister is working to that end.

[Michael Fabricant (Lichfield) (Con)]

My right hon. Friend will be aware that one of our biggest exports is tourism, and the sector deal still awaits to be made. Will he undertake to speak to the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport to see whether the sector deal for the UK, and Wales in particular, can be enacted?

[Alun Cairns]

My hon. Friend, with his great knowledge and interest in Wales, recognises the value of tourism to the Welsh economy, and I meet him regularly. My right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport is responsible for delivering on the industrial strategy, but my hon. Friend is right: Lonely Planet named north Wales the fourth top place to visit in the world in its recent report. [Interruption.]

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Alun Cairns and Michael Fabricant

Wednesday 2nd May 2018 Commons Chamber

[Alun Cairns]

The hon. Gentleman well knows that Wales does not operate in isolation. The hon. Member for Wrexham (Ian C. Lucas), for example, has been campaigning for the Halton curve, which is in England but of course would serve north Wales and link it better with Merseyside, demonstrating how the rail network in Wales does not operate in isolation. I have met Mark Barry, the proponent of the Swansea bay metro. He is undertaking a host of work on it, and we will happily look closely at it, but I point the hon. Gentleman to the need for a decent cost-benefit ratio.

[Michael Fabricant (Lichfield) (Con)]

On the subject of electrification of the line to Swansea, is my right hon. Friend aware that the South Wales chamber of commerce, in Swansea, is a darned sight more concerned about there being an old Labour Government in this country destroying industry than about shaving two minutes off a journey time?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Alun Cairns and Michael Fabricant

Wednesday 6th September 2017 Commons Chamber

[Alun Cairns]

I hope the hon. Gentleman will recognise that the new, most modern trains will be available and in service in Swansea within a few weeks. Swansea will benefit from the latest, most modern trains and from 15 minutes of saved journey time when the project is complete. There would be no time saving—in fact, there would be significant disruption to Swansea—if we continued with the electric-only model he seems to be advocating.

[Michael Fabricant (Lichfield) (Con)]

Is it not the case that Swansea’s connectivity will be improved by the new Kingsway project, which is creating a digital district? Is it not a shame that Opposition Members do not recognise this important move? Perhaps they do not know what a digital district is.

[Alun Cairns]

My hon. Friend has great expertise in all things Welsh, but particularly in relation to digital projects and the Kingsway project he talked about. The Swansea Bay city deal is an exciting project that will complement the private activity that is taking place, and that will improve connectivity by digital means, as well as rail connectivity, with new trains in operation very soon.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Alun Cairns and Michael Fabricant

Wednesday 26th April 2017 Commons Chamber

[Alun Cairns]

The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right. There are record employment data in Wales, with unemployment at a record low, and the prison will provide a further boost to his constituency. The answer to his question is quite straightforward: the site was selected in consultation with, and with the support of, the Welsh Government.

[Michael Fabricant (Lichfield) (Con)]

15. Wales has a number of technological hotspots, around Cardiff and elsewhere. Does my right hon. Friend not think that, after Brexit, they will benefit from the bilateral trade deals that we will be able to make with the United States and Canada, as well as with the European Union?

[Alun Cairns]

My hon. Friend regularly shows a great interest in Wales and he obviously knows a lot about the Welsh economy. He mentions the high-tech sectors. We have seen the expansion of General Dynamics, which my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence and I visited a couple of weeks ago. On that same day, we both handed over the Red Dragon super-hangar to Aston Martin. These are real jobs that are being created by real investors creating new opportunities.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Alun Cairns and Michael Fabricant

Wednesday 30th November 2016 Commons Chamber

[Alun Cairns]

The Welsh Government and I have a warm working relationship. Only last week, two Secretaries of State and two other Ministers met at the British-Irish Council that took place in my own constituency of Vale of Glamorgan. Of course we have strong bilateral relationships, and it is right that we use the Joint Ministerial Council to form the basis of the negotiations as we exit the European Union. I want to maintain the warmest and most constructive relationship possible with the Welsh Government, with all the devolved Administrations and with the Crown dependencies.

[Michael Fabricant (Lichfield) (Con)]

But does my right hon. Friend accept that this is not just about manufacturing, and that it is not only the exporters of Welsh Black beef who are important? One of the biggest exports for Wales is tourism. People tell me that, with the lower value of the pound, there are more foreign visitors in Snowdonia than ever before and that overseas companies are making more inward investment in Welsh hotels and marketing.

[Alun Cairns]

My hon. Friend makes an extremely important point. Wales has a fantastic record of attracting inward investment projects. He has focused on tourism, which gives me the opportunity to highlight the fact that north Wales has been named by Lonely Planet as the fourth top place in the world to visit in 2017. It is the only part of the United Kingdom to have been chosen, and that is something that we should celebrate and market to ensure that more people come not only to the UK but to north Wales.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Alun Cairns and Michael Fabricant

Wednesday 25th May 2016 Commons Chamber

[Michael Fabricant (Lichfield) (Con)]

13. A few years ago in Boston, Massachusetts, a few revolutionaries said, “No taxation without representation”, so does my right hon. Friend agree that it is very important that the Welsh Assembly takes advantage of the Wales Bill and applies its own income tax?

[Alun Cairns]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for the continued interest that he shows in Wales. I want the Welsh Assembly to be a mature legislator taking more responsibility for the money that it spends by raising money itself. On that basis, it will become truly accountable to the people of Wales, and will have to look differently at the sorts of spending priorities it has and the commitments it makes.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Alun Cairns and Michael Fabricant

Wednesday 17th June 2015 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

To ask about Dyfed Powys, rather than Lichfield, I call Mr Fabricant.

[Michael Fabricant (Lichfield) (Con)]

My hon. Friend will know how rural an area Wales is, and the hon. Member for Carmarthen East and Dinefwr (Jonathan Edwards) is absolutely right to raise this point, but what consideration has the Minister given to combining the Wales police force covering the hon. Gentleman’s constituency with north Wales police in order to provide a better service?

[Alun Cairns]

There are no proposals to merge the police forces, but co-operation between them is one way of saving money and operating a much better service. [Interruption.] The reorganisation of the helicopter service under NPAS provides the opportunity for 24-hour cover, which will be much better, as we all know that offenders do not restrict their activities to daylight hours. [Interruption.]

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Alun Cairns and Michael Fabricant

Wednesday 3rd December 2014 Commons Chamber

[Alun Cairns]

The hon. Gentleman makes an important point. Early in the new year, we plan a transport summit in north-east Wales to highlight businesses’ needs, and to ensure that business has the opportunity to make its case for electrification, so that the electrification taskforce of my hon. Friend the Member for Harrogate and Knaresborough (Andrew Jones), and the recommendations made to the Secretary of State, can be taken into account. Freight is of course an important part of that.

[Michael Fabricant (Lichfield) (Con)]

Although the south Wales to London line always attracts a great deal of publicity and concern in this Chamber, the Minister should not forget the importance of the Birmingham to Machynlleth line, which is fragile and often single track. Will the Government maintain their position that the line should, wherever possible, always be open?

[Alun Cairns]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for his persistent interest in these sorts of matters in Wales. This is an important issue, not only for the Wales Office but for the Department for Transport. It is a subject in which the Welsh Government will also want to show an interest.