Budget Day, the Tory way

Here's a rough timeline of Conservative activity on Budget Day at Westminster.

Early afternoon (via @paulwaugh) Tory whips text to MPs says: "This is an empty Budget, which proves Labour has run out of ideas".

Mid afternoon: Tory MP declines interview because they've been told not to comment before official briefing.

4.54pm: Conservative Campaign Headquarters e-mail journalists: "An empty Budget: the day Labour were found out."

"The only new policies were ones stolen from the Conservatives – like the stamp duty cut and new university places. It was the day Labour were found out.

"Britain can see that only the Conservatives have the energy, leadership and ideas to get Britain working."

4.59pm:  Press release arrives from Cheryl Gillan: “This really was the day when Labour was found out. It is clear now that only Conservatives have the energy and drive to get Wales and Britain back on track.”
 
If demonstrating old New Labour-style on-message commitment wins votes then the Tories must be feeling optimistic.

Time's Up

I could feel the wings of history on my tweets. The last Welsh Question Time at Westminster before the general election featured farewell appearances from MPs on both sides of the chamber.

If it was to be Peter Hain's last Question Time appearance as Secretary of State then he could not have wished for some softer questions to smooth him on his way.

Tom Watson kicked off with a penetrating "Can my right honourable friend assure me that he has no plans to axe or cut tax credits?" which prompted Peter Hain to claim there is a Tory "sword of Damocles" hanging over tax credits.

Sian James put him on the spot with her follow-up: "Can the Minister tell me how many families in total have benefited through the policies of this Government on this important issue?"

Mr Hain looked pleased although hardly surprised to be asked a question that allowed him to claim that the Conservatives would axe free school breakfasts.

Betty Williams wanted to know whether he agreed with her constituents that "the tax credit system is certainly not a gimmick?" Tough one, that.

Tory Peter Bone, late of Islwyn but now of Wellingborough, wanted to know how many constituents Mr Hain had had in tears in his office because of the tax credit system.

Mr Hain told him there were people in his constituency office in tears about the threat to their tax credits, although the sight of people in Neath weeping over an opposition party's manifesto is as yet uncorroborated.

There was barely a dry eye in the House as Ministers paid tribute to three Labour MPs taking part in their last Question Time - Betty Williams, Martyn Jones and Don Touhig.

Plaid Cymru's Adam Price bowed out with: "Why is it right for an ENGLISH Minister to sit as judge and jury on the question of bilingual juries?"

The shadow Welsh Secretary Cheryl Gillan accused Peter Hain of delaying preparations for a referendum on Welsh Assembly powers until it could be taken by an in-coming Conservative government?

It may be a rare example of an in-coming Minister hoping that Labour will take a decision before it arrives in office, allowing Cheryl Gillan to remain on the fence ("neutral") on an issue that divides her party more than most.

Peter Hain told MPs: "This is a matter for consideration after the general election. All the parties agree with that."

And that was more or less that. Historic or otherwise, it was probably an accurate rehearsal of the campaign to come.

Five facts from the Welsh Tory conference

1. Party members gave a standing ovation to a video - before it started. I think they were expecting DC in person.

2. The Tories would rename the Wales Office the Welsh Office - back to the future and a spending commitment unless they keep the existing signs on Gwydyr House.

3. David Cameron's hailed a war on waste as the party's European group offered all free mints, chocolate and writing pads bearing the Tory logo.

4. Welsh Tory MEP Kay Swinburne is the Queen of Hearts in a pack of cards featuring Euro-MPs - another freebie on offer.

5. The big question for the media - are chairmen Eric Pickles and Lyndon Jones twins or Russian dolls? Open up Eric and find Lyndon inside. Eric says they are the Mitchell brothers of British politics - which makes Cheryl Gillan Peggy Mitchell.

No room for complacency?

Political statements risk appearing meaingless unless you can imagine the direct opposite being spouted with conviction.

A One Wales Government may make sense as a political slogan but I've yet to discover a Two or Three Wales Government alternative on offer to the voters.

The All Wales Convention may have done what it said on the tin, but there wouldn't really be many votes in a Half Wales Convention.

So when a politician seeks your vote on the basis of there being no room for complacency, do look hard for another insisting there's plenty of room for the same.

The Welsh Conservatives have the phrase on their function keys as surely as Plaid Cymru use "slap in the face" and "snub to Wales".

So what did the party's leader in the Welsh Assembly make of their latest electoral success? Nick Bourne was delighted, but there was "no room for complacency".

His considered verdict a week later remained the same.

What did Professor Bourne make of a recent opinion poll? You can find the answer here - and, yes, the c-word does feature (although of course there is no room for it).

The shadow Welsh Secretary, Cheryl Gillan, was singing from the same hymn sheet when she received yesterday's jobless figures. Funnily enough, she gave an identical reaction to last August's figures.

And this afternoon, the party's Assembly Member Angela Burns has warned that, you've guessed it, there's "no room for complacency" over jobs in her constituency.

Wouldn't it be re-assuring, just the once, if a politician reacted to some news with a defiant message to camera along the lines of "there's plenty of room for complacency here, I'm off down the pub".

Vote blue, go green?

Meet Greg. He's the man who could decide the fate of thousands of jobs on Anglesey and Wales's energy supply.

Greg (Clark) is the shadow Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change. Within months, if the polls are right, he will be in charge of Britain's energy policy (well, most of Britain, and most energy policy anyway).

For all the talk of fast-tracking nuclear power planning decisions, by the time of the next election it's unlikely that a planning application to build a new reactor (or two) near the existing ones at Wylfa will have been submitted.

So any application could land on Greg's desk, as the Conservatives have said Labour's Infrastructure Planning Commission is not democratically accountable.

So what will he do? The Conservatives, for whom nuclear power was "a last resort" back in 2006, now see it as a vital part of Britain's energy mix. They wish this week's decision had been made earlier.

So will Wylfa get the same priority as it has under Ed Miliband? Will the Conservatives press ahead with a new plant there?

Forgive all the questions; I put a few of them to Greg's shadow cabinet colleague, Cheryl Gillan, this afternoon.

She devoted her contributions to Welsh Questions in the Commons to highlighting Labour's "mixed signals" over nuclear power - although the opposition comes in the main from politicians would would not have the final say on the issue.

I asked whether a Conservative government would press ahead with Wylfa Will a Conservative government press ahead with Wylfa. "I hope so" was the response.

Perhaps it is the effect of 12 and a half years in opposition that has left the Conservatives so focused on attacking the Government that is has lost sight of the imminence of the general election.

So we don't know for sure whether the Conservatives would carry forward Labour's energy plans, or, for that matter, press ahead with plans to locate the defence training centre at St Athan in the Vale of Glamorgan.

The Conservatives questioned the Government's prison-building plans in the Commons today. So would a Tory government build a prison in the north?

I suppose it's asking too much this close to the election to enquire after a Tory government's plans for the Barnett formula and a bank holiday on St David's Day.

Speaking of which, I wandered along to the unveiling of Plaid Cymru's alternative Queen's Speech this lunchtime. The traditional St David's Day (Bank Holiday) Bill was missing.

I'll leave you to decide whether this is a "snub to Wales" or "a slap in the face".

Letting the people decide

Bit of a headache for Welsh political hacks this one. We're now going to have to think of another question to ask David Cameron's people in Wales now he is confirming that a Conservative government would not block a request from the Welsh Assembly to hold a referendum on its powers.*

When Cheryl Gillan told us at the Tory conference in Manchester "we will let the people decide" she really did mean what we thought she said. As Secretary of State for Wales, she would avoid the trap of rejecting a request for a vote - the trap of an unpopular Conservative government fuelling demands for more freedom from Westminster.

There are still questions for Ms Gillan to answer. We still don't know which way she would vote in any referendum but that in one sense is academic as she wouldn't have a vote - unless Lord Garel-Jones's idea of enfranchising the expats takes off. (Perhaps my own ballot paper is in the post)

So insoluble are Tory divisions on the subject that the party's MPs would be given a free vote on the issue, a licence to campaign on either side of the argument. It could be the sort of campaign that pitches the party's MPs against the party's AMs, undermining Cheryl Gillan's plans to create harmony between Cardiff Bay and Westminster.

So now everyone is committed to letting the people decide, why wait for a change of government? Sir Emyr Jones Parry's report later this month is expected to fuel enthusiasm for a referendum among those keen for the Assembly to acquire full law-making powers and consign LCOs to the Welsh political archive.

The worrying thing for enthusiasts is that the strongest shout for a referendum (I paraphrase but "bring it on now" was the tone) I've heard this week came from the Conservative MP for Monmouth, David Davies. He may be a former Assembly Member, but there's no mystery about which way he would vote - or his motive for calling an early poll.

*If there are any other Welsh questions you'd like Team Cameron to be asked, do let us know. Would the Tories go ahead with the defence training college at St Athan springs to mind. Would a Cameron government committed to making devolution work really have a Secretary of State based in Buckinghamshire?

I'd hate to have to fall back on whether Prime Minister Cameron would implement Tory AMs' demands for St David's Day to be made a public holiday.

She's not John Redwood

Among all the embarrassing things that could happen to you at a party conference, it probably ranks alongside turning up in the same outfit as a Lib Dem activist.

The Tories are playing my record collection (as I still call it) to party members here. The Style Council, Snow Patrol......I'm a bit worried they'll start playing The Smiths next. Either I've got older or the Conservative taste in music has got younger; probably a bit of both.

I've spent the last 24 hours trying to discover the political views of the woman likely to become Secretary of State for Wales if David Cameron wins the general election.

The Tory leader admits his party is still divided over devolution. We know its leader in Cardiff Bay, Nick Bourne, thinks the Welsh Assembly should have full law-making powers. After almost five years in the job, no-one knows Cheryl Gillan's views on the subject.

The Tories have promised to reveal their party policy before the general election but are waiting for the All-Wales Convention to report on the prospects for a referendum. (Most activists here are keener on a referendum on Europe but that's another story).

If a Conservative Government did agree to a referendum on Assembly powers, a risky strategy in itself, then Tory MPs would be given a free vote which could see senior politicians from the governing party campaigning against each other.

Cheryl Gillan's views on this remain a mystery, although she did let slip a secret or two during a visit to a stall promoting Welsh produce in the conference: "My husband's a faggots and peas man".

Ms Gillan would be the first woman Secretary of State Wales has seen. She'd be the sixth from an English constituency, an experience that has previously ended in tears for the Tories.

The Gillan response? "I'm not John Redwood".

Not at this stage, no

 it's Sunday, it must be Manchester. Greetings from what is now known as Manchester Central, the exhibition centre formerly known as G-Mex, home to the Conservatives for a week.

This lot could be in power in a few months, but don't hold your breath waiting for Welsh policy announcements. "Not at this stage, no" was Cheryl Gillan's response to a suggestion that the Tories might choose the conference to unveil Welsh manifesto ideas. She would, understandably, prefer to announce policies in Wales.

As she spoke to the Welsh media (well, three of us), David Cameron was giving an interview to BBC Scotland in which he promised to set up "a council of the nations" to improve relations between Westminster and devolved governments.

The idea appeared to catch the Welsh leadership on the hop, although its theme - better co-operation - is one we'll be hearing a lot about, in the absence of policies, at a Welsh fringe meeting tomorrow.

So lots more meetings between politicians, a veritable mall of talking shops. If your pulse is racing at the prospect, do let me know.

Party animals

Peter Hain's Wales Office summer party in Whitehall last night had a distinctly retro feel to it.

Nye Bevan's mini-statue had been restored to its position alongside the ANC Mandela poster above the mantelpiece after 15 months in exile from government.

The guest list was a reminder of those who had worked with the Neath MP during his time at Gwydyr House, in Northern Ireland and on his Labour deputy leadership campaign. One former spin doctor described it as "a gathering of the living dead".

There was the odd celebrity or two at what was a thoroughly enjoyable gathering. As someone who played a pivotal role in the Northern Ireland peace process, Peter Hain is also one of the few people capable of bringing Lembit Opik and Sian Lloyd together in the same room even if the de-commissioning process there has somne way to go.

There was even a Manic Street Preacher - of the musical (James Dean Bradfield) rather than the Lord Roberts of Llandudno kind.

Shadow Welsh Secretary Cheryl Gillan denied she was measuring up for curtains ahead of the general election.

Her superstition about victory extends to declining all offers to spell out what she would do in the Wales Office. I forgot to ask whether she'd replace Nye Bevan with a likeness of Margaret Thatcher, although I suspect the answer would be "wait and see" (it usually is).

Taxpayers will be relieved to discover that the menu reflected the austerity of the times rather than the apparent approach of those International Business Wales civil servants who turn left on planes at our expense.

Catering was in-house, provided by civil servants. After 12 years of canape culture under New Labour, guests were offered a choice between crisps and peanuts.

John Redwood, one of Peter Hain's more frugal predecessors, would have been proud.

Banking on the MoD?

The Ministry of Defence has done its best to do what the Wales Office couldn't do - and answer questions about the prospects for the defence training academy at St Athan.

Apparently the banking situation and "the evolving situation in Afghanistan" are responsible for delays in the planning stages of the project.

The scheme is expected to go before an MoD review board for approval next February, almost a year later than scheduled.

In the light of Afghanistan, the programme is being adjusted to ensure British troops receive "relevant" training.

A Ministry of Defence spokesman said: "Despite some delays to the planning stages of the DTR project, there is currently no change to the end date and final contracts remain scheduled to be signed in the summer of 2010."

Perhaps the key word there is "scheduled". Voters will notice the proximity of "the summer of 2010" to the next general election. Cheryl Gillan may find herself answering rather than asking questions before the academy is built.

How To Avoid Answering the Question

Cheryl Gillan took time off from wittering during Welsh Questions to ask a specific question about the proposed defence training academy at St Athan in the Vale of Glamorgan.

The project, to centralise services training, has seen several delays since it was first announced and there are growing questions over its future.

This was Cheryl Gillan's question to the Wales Office Minister Wayne David: "The defence training project at St Athan would bring huge opportunities to Wales.

"Can the Minister confirm that the Secretary of State is co-ordinating with the Ministry of Defence is co-ordinating with the Ministry of Defence and that the pre-contract agreement letter will be issued to the preferred bidder this week, on time, on the 17th of July, or will this be delayed by the Government?"

Wayne David's reply: "Can I say that the honourable lady is absolutely correct in stressing the importance of this investment to Wales.

"It will be the largest single investment in the Welsh economy that there's ever been and the defence technical college will be of tremendous benefit not only to the Welsh economy but obviously to the armed forces of the United Kingdon.

"My right honourable friend the Secretary of State fully recognises the importance of this. he's had discussions with the Secretary of State for Defence and they're going forward together and he can be absolutely assured that we recognise the importance of this project for Wales as a whole."

Warm words, but not exactly an answer to the question asked.

Wittering for Wales

Can there be a better post-holiday pre-recess treat than Welsh Questions in the House of Commons?

Peter Hain and his deputy Wayne David fielded MPs' questions for the last time today before MPs disappear for their long summer recess.

Today was John Bercow's first Welsh Questions in the chair and the new Speaker wasted little time before making his mark.

He demanded shorter questions and pithy replies of MPs and Ministers.

Shadow Welsh Secretary Cheryl Gillan was a prime target, finding herself accused of "wittering".

Mr Bercow told MPs: "There is a practice growing up of the opposition front bench asking a question and then wittering away from a sedentary position - it's not acceptable and I don't want it to happen again."

It didn't, although the Speaker did have to tell MPs to tone down the noise at one point, something due rather more to anticipation of Prime Minister's Question Time than excitement at Welsh Questions.

And there was still time for Peter Hain to quip of Cheryl Gillan: "At least she wasn't twittering in the House." These silver surfers yield to no-one in their ability to get down with da kidz online.

Tories oppose spending cuts

You may remember the outrage among opposition parties when it emerged that the Wales Office budget was to rise by 80 per cent one year.

There is now similar outrage about plans to cut the same budget by more than half next year.

Shadow Welsh Secretary Cheryl Gillan says: "At a time of austerity, all departments need to think about how they can save the taxpayer money, but Labour need to come clear about their plans and stop treating people like fools.

"Peter Hain promises that there will be real increases in government departments’ spending, when he must know his own department’s budget is being halved.”

Mrs Gillan also complains that the Wales Office will now bear the full cost of Mr Hain's salary - in his previous incarnation there the bill was picked up by the Department for Work and Pensions.

The amounts involved are relatively insignificant - something like £3.6m in a Welsh settlement of around £16bn (the figures refer to his office costs not the Hain salary!).

The Wales Office points out that it also paid Mr Hain's predecessor, Paul Murphy. A spokesman says: "This was a three-year settlement dating back to the Government's last Comprehensive Spending Review of 2007, which included a substantial increase in the Wales Office budget for the first two years.

"Planned efficiency savings over the first and current financial years were always anticipated to give us the resources necessary for spending needs in the final year, 2010/11. Nothing has changed."

The disputed figures cover the next financial year, by then the Conservatives hope to take power: no news yet on how much the budget would be under a Cameron government.

Peter's Friends

As comebacks go, it was relatively low key. "It's nice to be back," said Peter Hain, as he spoke from the despatch box for the first time in 17 months.

"Even though my appointment was marked by an earthquake a few miles from my home."

Having spent the past week elsewhere, I was prepared for parliamentary tumult after so many turbulent days.

Then I remembered: nah, it's Welsh Questions. Question Time turned into something of a love-in, with everyone apparently pleased to see Mr Hain back in charge.

Even Plaid Cymru's parliamentary leader, Elfyn Llwyd, a past critic of the Neath MP, welcomed him back.

His past and present shadow, Cheryl Gillan, found some warm words for the man axed to make way for Mr Hain's return.

"In welcoming the return of the new Secretary of State, I also want to express my admiration for his predecessor.

"I've enjoyed working with Mr Murphy, a decent and straightforward man.

"We will miss his common sense and dedication to Wales, and I wonder what sort
of Prime Minister we have who could so easily dispense with his services."

Lembit Opik told the Commons Mr Hain should not have had to stand down in the first place.

Mr Hain gave every appearance of enjoying his comeback. As I write, he's leading for the Government in a lively debate on Plaid Cymru's attempt to force a general election.

"Low turnout at elections is the clearest sign that the British people are not engaged with the political process: that is our fault and not theirs. We seem obsessed with procedure and tribal party politics and now the public think MPs are all in this for our own ends."

Low turn-out isn't confined to voters: I'd guesstimate that barely 10 per cent of MPs have turned up for the debate.

Pedigree chump?

Meet Curby, the Lhasa Apso. If he looks well fed, thank you. You apparently paid for his grub.


Curby's owner, shadow Welsh Secretary Cheryl Gillan, claimed £4.47 for dog food as part of her parliamentary expenses. She's now willing to pay the money back.

Her leader, David Cameron, has acknowledged that tomorrow will be a bad day for the Conservative Party: “We have to start by saying that the system we had and used was wrong and that we are sorry about that.”

Curby, alas, is no longer with us, having left for that great kennel in the sky.

What are the chances......?

Going now, on eBay, several signed copies of the above Welsh Assembly first day cover signed by Lord Kinnock, not in previous incarnations known as a great campaigner for the institution.

Next week on eBay a Queen's Golden Jubilee cover signed by Paul Flynn MP, a copy of Chris Mullin's diaries signed by Cheryl Gillan, and two DVDs signed by the Home Secretary....

Cheryl has them rolling their eyes

Chris Mullin has reportedly spent some of the time since his diaries were published penning apologies to colleagues he criticised in A View from the Foothills.

No word yet on whether Cheryl Gillan should check her pigeonhole. Mullin is brutal in his assessment of the Shadow Welsh Secretary in her previous role shadowing him at International Development during the passage of a Bill in March 2001.

He writes: "The other piece of good fortune is Cheryl Gillan. Definitely not the A Team. She threw away the first half-hour with another diatribe against the iniquity of the timetable.

"She then tested the patience of the committee with a speech lasting the best part of an hour on the first group of amendments, several times having to be called to order by the chair.

"Once or twice I caught Tories on the benches behind her rolling their eyes; several times the Tory whip, Keith Simpson, winked at me.

"At one particularly low point, she succeeded in talking every one of her colleagues out of the room."

Ms Gillan says she doesn't wish to comment on the book.

New Landlady for Queen Vic?

Here's one story I may have missed during my absence from Westminster.....Shadow Welsh Secretary Cheryl Gillan's audition for EastEnders. As I understand it, the current Queen Vice landlady Peggy Mitchell has been fighting a council by-election. Job swap?

Cock of the south

Gordon Brown's government reshuffle continues. You didn't expect the PM to take Sunday off, did you?

Welsh angles so far: Wayne David replaces Huw Irranca-Davies at the Wales Office. Huw's reward for his on-message blogging is promotion to DEFRA, where his views on hunting might please the odd farmer.

Wayne is replaced as Welsh Whip by Mark Tami from Alyn and Deeside. His job as unpaid assistant whip goes to Ian Lucas of Wrexham. Both took part in the coup against Tony Blair in September 2006 so will need supreme political skills to play the loyalty card with sceptical backbenchers.

Kevin Brennan is promoted to the Cabinet Office and Chris Bryant gets his first ministerial job as deputy leader of the House of Commons.

The Mail on Sunday has lifted the lid on the names of Cheryl Gillan's Buff Orpington chickens.

"I called the two hens Marilyn Monroe and Diana Dors because of their blonde feathers and the cock is Boris because one of his tail feathers sticks out like Boris Johnson's hair." Well, that's her explanation.

The Mail also suggests Gordon Brown is considering an unlikely comeback for yet another Minister who have previously fallen from grace - David Blunkett. At this rate, it won't be long before Ron Davies is standing by his phone.....*

*Apologies to Peter Black who thought of that joke 24 hours before I blogged it. I really must spend more of my weekends reading Peter's blog.

Separated at birth?

Last week, The Sunday Telegraph reported how Welsh Secretary Paul Murphy was mistaken for Barry Humphries by a voter in Manchester.

In the interests of balance (it's in our DNA at the BBC), I should point out that the Telegraph has discovered how a voter in Birmingham saw similarities between Mr Murphy's shadow, Cheryl Gillan, and Hillary Clinton.

I can't see it myself, despite their fashion preference for orange. Cheryl did arrive for her 7am slot on Good Morning Wales wearing shades. Think Joanna Lumley as Patsy in Absolutely Fabulous and you're getting there, although there were elements of her gardening technique yesterday that drew comparisons with Margot Leadbetter from The Good Life.