Summer Adjournment

Glyn Davies Excerpts

Tuesday 27th July 2010 Commons Chamber

[Glyn Davies (Montgomeryshire) (Con)]

Over the last three years during which I was a parliamentary candidate, building up to the last general election, many people in Montgomeryshire asked me what specific issue I would get involved in if I became an MP. I nearly always told them that the issue of particular interest to me was the relationship between the National Assembly for Wales, of which I had been a member for eight years, and this Parliament in Westminster. That relationship is indeed the subject that I would like to speak about today. I know that not everyone in the Chamber will share my obsession with the detail of devolution and the transfer of powers to Wales, so let me provide a little context before I raise three specific aspects of the issue.

The National Assembly for Wales was established in 1999 on the basis of the Government of Wales Act 1998, which followed a referendum of the people of Wales in 1997. The 1998 Act did not grant to the National Assembly for Wales any primary law-making powers; it had to depend on secondary law-making powers. That was the position until a new Government of Wales Act 2006 was passed, under which primary law-making powers were indeed granted to the National Assembly for Wales, albeit by means of what at least some of us thought was a very complex and bureaucratic system. I do not think that it has been successful.

What has transpired is that in the first quarter of next year there will be a very significant referendum for the people of Wales, in which they will be asked to vote on whether they want to move to part 4 of the 2006 Act. That would enable the primary law-making powers in all the devolved policy areas to be transferred to the Assembly. The essential difference between the position now and the position after a yes in the referendum is that all the primary powers in devolved policy areas would be transferred all in one go rather than bit by bit through the complex process I mentioned, which is what obtains at the moment.

As I said, I wish to touch briefly on three particular aspects of the relationship between this House and the National Assembly for Wales. The first is the date on which the referendum should be held. I have always taken a very strong view on that. It is not that I worry particularly about when the date should be. The National Assembly Government believe that the date should be on or before the next Assembly election on 5 May. I do not mind about that. What is hugely important to us here is that this should be recognised as the general election for the National Assembly for Wales—the Welsh general election—and another important constitutional issue should not be decided on the same day. There is an issue in this House relating to that. As to whether the law-making referendum should be on the same date as the Welsh general election, I have taken the view for two or three years that it should not be. I have expressed the same view in saying that the alternative vote referendum should not be held on the same date as the general election.

The second important issue revolves around the powers. Currently, devolved powers are set out in a schedule. Before the referendum on 5 May takes place, the range of powers to be included in schedule 7 will be a matter of debate, and it is possible that several other powers beyond the currently devolved powers will be included. As yet, the debate has not really started, but it is time that it was, as this is a hugely important matter. We need to be aware of exactly what powers will be devolved well before the referendum takes place.

The third issue is also important, in my view. When a power is devolved from this place to the National Assembly for Wales, it is not the end of this place’s involvement. In my constituency, a number of devolved matters depend hugely on the wish on the English side of the border to ensure that they are dealt with properly. Let me give a couple of examples.

A few weeks ago, a little girl collapsed at her school, Llangedwyn primary school, near the English border. The situation was serious, and an ambulance was called. There was an ambulance station no more than 3 or 4 miles away, just over the border in England, but the ambulance was called not from that station but from a station perhaps 25 or 30 miles away. That young child’s life was put in danger by the bureaucratic difficulties involved in efficient management of the relationship between the two sides of the border, and, unless we are very careful, similar cases will occur simply as a result of the devolutionary process.

The second example relates to the connection between my constituency and the midlands. Road improvement—I am thinking specifically of the A458, but it is the principle that matters—is crucial to the economy of mid-Wales and to my constituency. An improvement programme costing about £30 million could have gone ahead, but at least 90% of the work would have been done in Wales. The Government of Wales were hugely committed to the programme, but about 5% of it involved England. As no economic benefit would flow to England from the development, it was not seen as a priority there, and it has not gone ahead. If a strategic view had been taken of the benefit to the United Kingdom it probably would have gone ahead, but because of the relationship that exists between the two sides of the border as the devolutionary process settles in, it dropped down the list of priorities.

The devolutionary process is continuing and will continue, whether or not there is a yes vote in the referendum. We in the Chamber must make certain that when an issue is devolved, we retain our interest and do our best to ensure that services to our constituents in Wales are not disadvantaged by the fact that there are two Governments on the two sides of the border, following different policies.

Information for Backbenchers on Statements

Glyn Davies Excerpts

Tuesday 20th July 2010 Commons Chamber

[Glyn Davies (Montgomeryshire) (Con)]

Thank you, Mr Speaker, for calling me to make my maiden speech in this very important debate on both the role of Back Benchers and, most importantly, how we can protect the power and authority that this Chamber has had throughout several centuries of our history.

First, I must say that I am very relieved that I managed to arrive here to make my maiden speech without incurring any serious injury. The first time I sought to catch your eye, Mr Speaker, was during the Queen’s Speech debate. I moved on quickly, however, because my hon. Friend the Member for Shrewsbury and Atcham (Daniel Kawczynski) had secured a debate in Westminster Hall on an issue of interest to me, and I quickly wrote to tell you, Mr Speaker, that I would like to speak in it, but then, unfortunately, my hon. Friend had to go to hospital for a couple of weeks. I hope that that was not a result of my desire to speak, but I suspect that it might have been because a fortnight later I asked if I could speak in the debate on the emergency Budget only then to finish up in hospital myself for a week. I am relieved to arrive here undamaged on this occasion, therefore.

It is a convention that Members refer to their constituency in their maiden speech, and I would like to do that. Montgomeryshire is a beautiful constituency, and I have lived there all my life. Indeed, although my family encouraged me to move away, I always resisted because I simply love Montgomeryshire, especially its uplands. That love is what led me to become president of the Campaign for the Protection of Rural Wales for the last few years, a position I have had to relinquish since becoming a Member of this House.

Montgomeryshire is also a culturally diverse constituency, where the Welsh language plays a very important part. It is probably the dominant language in a third of the constituency. When I was elected as a Member of Parliament, my first seven words were in the Welsh language. I said:

“Dur i’n falch gael fy ethol fel Aelod Seneddol dros Sir Drefaldwyn.”

Well, perhaps that is 10 words, Mr Speaker, but I knew I might be testing your patience, and I should hasten to explain that that just means that I am very proud to be elected to represent Montgomeryshire as a Member of Parliament. I thought that that was the right thing for me to do in that constituency.

A second convention is that the Member making their maiden speech should refer to their predecessor, and I would like to make reference to more than just my immediate predecessor. I was doing some research and I discovered the most incredible coincidence. I thought I was the first person in my extended family ever to have any interest in politics, yet I discovered that in 1880 a certain Arthur Humphreys-Owen, a Liberal Member, owned the house where I live. He was followed by Lord Davies of Llandinam, a very great man in Welsh history, and he in turn was followed by Clement Davies. Some current Members might remember him; he was a great leader of the Liberal party. It is said in Montgomeryshire that many of the Liberal Democrats there voted for me because it was an opportunity for them to vote yet again for a Davies, and that that probably contributed to quite a substantial part of my majority.

My immediate predecessor was Lembit Öpik, and I want to pay tribute to him. He was a man of great talent in many, many areas of activity—and I must say that in some areas he achieved a level of excellence that I am sure I will not be able to match. He served his constituents very well, however, and I wish him well in his new chosen careers.

I am often asked in the constituency how I have found being a Member of Parliament. Like my hon. Friend the Member for Battersea (Jane Ellison), who is no longer in her place, I have said that it is a wonderful experience to be here; it is a wonderful experience for me to be speaking in this Chamber, representing the people of Montgomeryshire. That is a great thrill, as is being part of what happens in this House.

That brings me to the debate in which we are engaging at the moment. Since I have been here, we have seen some amazing things happen. We have seen two of the great parties of Britain come together to form a dynamic coalition, rising phoenix-like from the ashes and smouldering embers of the Labour party—I am sure that it will be able to recover. It was a dramatic event to have been here in the presence of and to have witnessed.

I sat at the back of this Chamber watching and listening to the statement on the Saville inquiry. I was in some sort of enrapture, because it was a most wonderful occasion. I am certain that it was the sheer power of the words and the speeches that brought that hugely damaging issue to a conclusion that is to the benefit of us all. The reputation and presence of this House, and its historical context in which we speak, helped to solve what was a dreadful scar on our history.

This is a very special place, and I think we probably all know that. Several Members, including the hon. Member for Ealing North (Stephen Pound), who spoke before me, have made reference to the issue of where we go from here. Dealing with that is the next step, because there is general agreement across the whole House that there is an issue that we need to address. I must say that I think it is a matter for the Procedure Committee. We must await its response and take what it says seriously, because dealing with this matter is complex.

There is a temptation for us to move into the realms of various punishments, but I am not going to do that. What I will say—this is the only comment that I wish to make on this matter—is that to be asked to apologise in this House for committing something that we all consider to be a serious misdemeanour is a serious punishment. If I ever became a Minister and such a punishment was visited on me, I would consider that to be a huge blow. All the other punishments would be small in comparison with the damage I would feel to my reputation if that happened. So I do not think that we should underplay this.

I have come to this House to represent the people of Montgomeryshire and my constituency, and to represent Wales, the nation that I love. I have come here to do what I can to protect and enhance the reputation of this House. Contributing to this debate and supporting the intention espoused so eloquently by my hon. Friend the Member for Kettering (Mr Hollobone) at its outset is what I really want to do.