Peter blogs Andrew

Peter Black blogged pretty fully on Andrew Davies's Assembly contribution this week saying :

"Perhaps it was the fact that we held Plenary on a Thursday, but as other bloggers have already pointed out there was definitely something in the air. I am not convinced like Glyn Davies that Andrew Davies' sustained assault on Plaid Cymru was a calculated leadership bid, but it certainly will do him no harm in the future. That after all was the intention when Leighton Andrews planted the question:

Leighton Andrews: I congratulate the Minister on his role, along with the First Minister and colleagues at Westminster, in helping to bring that development to south Wales. Does he agree that we would not want Wales to be seen as a place that is not welcoming of the British military? We believe that these investments have a considerable role to play in the Welsh economy and that Wales has not, in the past, enjoyed its fair share of such investments.

Andrew Davies: I very much agree. It has been a fantastic team effort, as you said; I pay tribute to your parliamentary colleague, Chris Bryant, who led a very effective lobbying campaign at Westminster. As well as a team effort, it was a Team Wales effort, and it was an attempt to change the perception of Wales. We have been successful in doing that. However, we have to bear in mind that some parties would not even have been bidding for the defence training academy.Plaid Cymru has made its position on this clear. Certainly, Elfyn Llwyd, one of its many leaders, signed a parliamentary motion in November 2006, opposing the entire defence training review programme. We would not even be in this position of celebrating success if we had followed Plaid Cymru. This matter has a long history in that party. Who will ever forget Saunders Lewis’s infamous arson attack on the Pwllheli military training camp on the eve of the second world war? Yet another of Plaid Cymru’s leaders, Dafydd Iwan, the president, has called for an end to all army activity, including training, in Wales. Who could forget the social justice spokeswoman, Leanne Wood—I am afraid that she is not here at the moment—demanding that representatives of the armed forces be banned from Welsh schools? If we had followed Plaid’s policy, we would not have been standing up for Wales; we would be hauling up the white flag for Wales. Where would we be on the north-south air service from Cardiff to RAF Valley, which the Government is introducing? Presumably, Plaid should not really support that, because it is based on a defence site. Where is Elin Jones on the issue of unmanned aerial vehicles?Elin Jones: I am here.Andrew Davies: Where are you now on the unmanned aerial vehicle aerospace park at Parc Aberporth? We have worked with the Ministry of Defence, as a Labour Government, to bring that to Wales. We could go on and on, about constituency after constituency, where Plaid Cymru would want to see the end of defence expenditure and an end to the creation of thousands of jobs in Wales.And it went on:Andrew Davies: I think that it is a bit rich of Owen John Thomas to ask about local jobs. We would not even be in this position, if we had followed the policy of Plaid Cymru’s leader of opposing the defence training academy. One of our key strengths in bidding for the defence academy, with our parliamentary colleagues in London, was that we were able to address the Ministry of Defence’s concerns about local skills and local sourcing. One of our major strengths was that we could demonstrate that we had the necessary skills in Wales and the capacity and expertise in our further and higher education institutions. We were standing up for Wales, creating wealth and jobs, unlike Plaid Cymru, the party that would put up barriers around Wales.

It was so good that Conservative AM, David Melding, could not resist congratulating the Minister on it:David Melding: Minister, I must congratulate you on your astonishing and utterly spontaneous replies; they put on record some hard political facts. [Laughter.]

Just when we thought it was over, the Labour AM for Islwyn, Irene James, planted another question:

Irene James: As you have already alluded to in your answer, inward investment is a key part of the economy of industrialised south Wales. Will you give an assurance that, as part of a Labour Welsh Assembly Government, you will not turn your back on the opportunities of inward investment, as advocated by nationalists fighting a nationalist agenda, whatever the cost to economic health and opportunities? Do you agree that indigenous business growth, inward investment, and economic diversity are all essential to a successful, thriving and prosperous Welsh economy?

Andrew Davies: I agree. You need a balanced approach in a modern economy. You need the public sector and Government leading and developing policies that encourage business, entrepreneurial activity and innovation, whether it is Welsh-based companies or inward investors.I was somewhat taken aback when someone brought to my attention a letter that was sent out by two parliamentary candidates from Plaid Cymru—[Assembly Members: ‘Oh.’]—one of whom was a former leader. The trouble is that there have been so many leaders, it is always difficult to remember their roles. However, the other candidate was a present Assembly Member, who wrote to local businesses in the Arfon constituency stating that, over the past 30 successive years, Governments, Conservative and Labour alike, have placed far too much emphasis on paying grants to bribe—a word that I would like Members to note—large companies into Wales rather than nurturing our own business sector. I am sure that companies such as Inspired Broadcast Networks, at Technium CAST in Parc Menai, Bangor, and Brandsauce, which has created 30 jobs, and The Book People, both of which are also at Parc Menai, would be interested to hear that a Government is offering bribes and that such companies are willing to accept them. Plaid Cymru needs to consider whether it is in favour of developing a sustainable economy or whether, just as in its attitude to the defence industry and the Ministry of Defence, it wants to put up barriers around Wales.So that is 'no' to a coalition with Plaid Cymru then? Or is it?

How did Andrew in far away Cardiff learn about that Plaid Cymru letter I wonder ????