Welsh Questions the big attraction for English Tories
The season of goodwill has arrived at Westminster where even Welsh Secretary Cheryl Gillan and her Labour shadow Peter Hain stopped sniping at each other long enough to exchange good wishes for Christmas.
The last Welsh Questions of the year threw up little to disturb the news bulletins, although it may be of historic note if Cheryl Gillan ends up resigning over her government's plans to deliver a high speed railway through her constituency.
Cardiff West Labour MP Kevin Brennan linked Mrs Gillan's objection to the high speed route with her (so far inconclusive) support for electrification of the railway between London and Swansea.
Would she resign if she doesn't win the latter battle? She appeared to read a prepared answer: "We have a prime minister who is well aware of my constituents' objections to route 3 and if the preferred route is route 3 he will expect me to make the arguments against it not least because we will be holding a proper consultation."
Cheryl Gillan told MPs last week that as a girl she had wanted to become a train driver (although possibly not a high speed one). Today, the Chesham and Amersham MP pointed out that Labour Ministers had objected to post office closures while in office, despite supporting a closure programme. Will that get her off the hook? Not if she votes against the Government in the House of Commons.
Julian Glover of The Guardian that her resignation would be taken in their stride by government whips, even if there is no obvious replacement.
Whether it was the work of the whips, or her parliamentary private secretary, the Conservatives put on a more co-ordinated approach to question time today despite the lack of Welsh Tories.
The MPs for Henley (John Howell) and Pudsey (Stuart Andrew) had come up with identical questions on employment. Steve Baker (Wycombe) and Karen Lumley (Redditch) tabled identical questions on policing. Great minds think alike. Perhaps.
Andrew Rosindell (Romford) asked about the Queen's diamond jubilee, and Adam Holloway (Gravesham) put a supportive query on aerospace. Andrew Turner from the Isle of Wight wanted to know about welfare reform in Wales.
David Amess was interested in the referendum next March on the Welsh assembly's powers. They speak of little else in Southend West.
Welsh Questions has seldom been so popular among the English. Seven of the first nine questions - chosen by ballot - came from English Tory MPs.
The rush from the English Tories to question Welsh Ministers squeezed out Tories from Wales. Simon Hart was the only Welsh Conservative backbencher to catch the Speaker's eye.
Aside from the knockabout there was the odd serious exchange. Wales Office Minister, David Jones praised efforts to stop young people using sunbeds, offering this advice: "It is a cancer risk, and frankly, is frequently not a very good look either."
Free image advice from a Government Minister; we must hope that contribution is recorded in the public administration committee's current- "Smaller Government: What Do Ministers Do?"
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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