Cheryl's buzzword bingo full house
Admit it. There's been something familiar missing in your life recently. Not just the World Cup or Wimbledon, but the Commons' Select Committee on Welsh Affairs.
This committee, now under new management, held its first public meeting for months today, taking evidence from the new-ish Secretary of State for Wales for the first time.
A baptism of fire for Cheryl Gillan? In reality, the odd spark flew but there were few fireworks. Mrs Gillan insisted that she was at all times "batting for Wales" although when faced with tricky questions she employed a straight bat in the manner of Geoff Boycott in his prime. "It would not be right for me to pre-judge....."
In a tour of "fantastic" things she'd seen already in Wales, she announced: "We are hoping to grind the lenses for the largest telescope in the world and that would be terrific". That conjures up an interesting image of the Welsh Secretary hard at work at the grindstone, although she may have been using "the Welsh we" in that statement.
The questions from new committee members were largely partisan. Judging by his helpful queries, Conservative Alun Cairns appeared to be auditioning for the still vacant position of parliamentary private secretary to the Secretary of State.
Labour's Geraint Davies and Owen Smith were intent on securing an admission that Wales would lose out disproportionately from the Conservative/Lib Dem coalition Budget.
They got one: "There is an acceptance across government that there could be a disproportionate effect on Wales."
For those who care to play buzzword bingo on occasions such as these, Mrs Gillan offered a full house within half an hour. Bilaterals, quadrilaterals, JMCs, WALES DEL, the inevitable Barnett formula - all were present and correct. Cheryl Gillan probably described her own wedding as a bilateral.
She said the Barnett formula, which effectively decides the levels of most public spending in Wales, was coming to the end of its life and said the Government hoped eventually to move to what she called "a fair funding formula" - an implicit admission the current formula is unfair.
In the chair, David Davies was robust enough to cut Mrs G off before she got too long-winded and to encourage, Bercow-like, short questions from committee members.
After an hour, they let her go to her next bilateral. Or lunch, as you and I know it better.
Hello. I'm David Cornock and I'm parliamentary correspondent for ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Wales. This is the blog for the latest news and gossip from the Westminster village - with a Welsh accent.
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