Nick Bourne AM

Today I attended the funeral service of Andrew and Elaine Williams, their son Craig, and baby Liam at Christ Church in Blaenau Gwent.  I had last been here in similarly sad circumstances for Peter Law’s funeral. 

Once again the church was packed to overfull with people standing and people outside.  Valleys communities come together for grief and in remembrance, and it was a deeply moving service for Andrew, Elaine, Craig and Liam.  

Andrew, Elaine and Craig had been popular and respected members of their community involved in charitable work and Andrew had been Chairman of the Conservative Club. 

Fatal road accidents are always sad, but when a small family is practically wiped out in an accident, it is almost too much to bear.  

On Monday last Peter Walker came to speak to the Cardiff Business Club.

He spoke of his time as Secretary of State and the efforts to get inward investment into the valleys along with the Welsh Development Agency.He was also delighted at the progress of Cardiff Bay, the conception had not been Peter’s but that of Nick Edwards but he had played a key part in its evolution. An outspoken critic  of the development of Cardiff Bay ,of course, had been one Rhodri Morgan.

He talked too of his pact with Margaret Thatcher; that he would only take the job on if he could do it his way and with the resources he needed. The pact held and he was able to say to the then Chief Secretary, John Major, in a difficult spending round  when John Major had termed his bid  for money for Wales excessive ” Pick up the phone and speak to Margaret”. He got the money.

In fact Peter Walker is very happy with the direction of the party at the moment as well he might be. Peter Walker is in many ways the prototype for David Cameron and when he was the youngest member of Ted Heath’s cabinet it was assumed that he would be his successor.Joe Gormley’s miners’ strike , the elections of 1974 and the emergence of Margaret Thatcher put paid to that. Once again in 1983-4 it looked like a strong possiibility that he may well  emerge as  Margaret Thatcher’s successor.He would have been a formidable P.M.

 John Reid has had a dreadful few weeks and most people, excepting probably Charles Clarke and Gordon Brown will be feeling sorry for him on a human level.

That said the latest horror from his department seems like total administative bungling.The chaos in the prison system has long been predicted and Labour has failed to take any of the measures needed to tackle this.Mental therapy provision for some people who are detained and also more prison building to remedy the awful overcrowding that exists should have been provided for and John Reid must take his share of the blame for that.However, the farce of not taking passports away from convicted drug dealers seems like pure incompetence and little or nothing to do with resources.

Few Home Secretaries become Prime Minister, Jim Callaghan was an exception to that rule but it doesn’t look as though John Reid will be.Before Callaghan one has to go back to Churchill who was Home Secretary in 1910 and Asquith who was Home Secretary from 1892 to 1895. Chancellors (Major, Callaghan, Macmillan, Chamberlain, LLoyd-George, Asquith ) and Foreign Secretaries  ( Major, Callaghan, Macmillan, Eden and with Home and Balfour going on to become Foreign Secretary after their premierships) fare better.

It has been a good week for Gordon Brown, after Jade Goody he was owed it!

 So the return of the only person in Britain without a view on the Iraq war to Aberystwyth is featured in the Cambrian News.Apparently we are all being allowed to ask him a question on whatever subject we like.Something similar happens to me on Tuesday afternoons down in the bay.However, these questions in Aberystwyth to the First Minister have to be revealed in advance so the assertion that he will be “put on the spot “may be something of an overstatement. Somewhat like those mindreading marvels on variety shows being supplied with the audience’s c.v.s in advance of the stunning revelation that the gentleman in the blue pullover looks like he works for the co-op and is married with three children and goes hanggliding in his spare time!

However, Rhodri’s colleague in arms or should that be partner in crime does seem to have  been acquiring views on the Iraq war and on President Bush.This week’s interview with Peter Hain in the New Statesman is a cracking good read.Peter Hain expresses anguish about the war but still feels that he was right to support the decision to go to war.He believes that Britain should be following an ethical forign policy but  he is part of the present cabinet that stopped the Serious Fraud Office investigation into the alleged bribery involving BAE systems and Saudi Arabia.

He claims to be delighted at the advance of the Democrats in the Mid term elections in the USA but no government in living memory has been as close to a US administration as this one is to President Bush’s  Republican administration– far closer to them than the Conservative opposition incidentally.

Now there is little sign that Gordon Brown’s Foreign policy will differ materially from that of Tony Blair; he has indeed praised the Prime Minister’s resolution on more than one occasion. It is hard to account for the stance of the Rt. Hon. Member for Neath unless of course it is just a little bit to do with the forthcoming elections for the Deputy Leadership of the Labour Party– I wonder.

Last night, along with Mick Bates, I attended a dinner with Electoral Commissioners at the Ivy Bush Hotel in Carmarthen.  Also present were a number of returning officers.  

It was a very useful opportunity to discuss the work of the Electoral Commission, a body which, I think, has succeeded in establishing a reputation for impartiality.  Indeed, people who have been in political life are debarred from acting as commissioners 

Our own Commissioner, Glyn Mathias, was there, as was Sam Younger, the Chairman of the Commission.  

It was interesting to hear of the prospect of Northern Ireland Assembly elections early in March and, dependent on Sinn Fein’s statement on the Police this weekend and whether Dr No can become Dr Yes on behalf of the DUP, elections do seem a strong possibility. 

Inevitably there was much discussion about our own count.  Mick and I, on behalf, I believe, of all four political parties, were putting the case strongly for a Thursday night count.  This is in fact not a matter for the Electoral Commission but with so many returning officers there we were not going to throw away the opportunity to put the case. 

To be fair to the returning officers there clearly is an issue with regard to the prospect of the very late delivery of lots of postal votes.  Comparisons with Scotland fall down as this won’t be happening there, and also there is electronic counting in Scotland.  That said, I think it would make Wales as a nation look like an ‘also ran’ if we have our count and declaration on the Friday.  These are, after all, very important elections and it is inconceivable that a general election count at Westminster would be delayed. 

The most important thing is clearly getting the result of the count right and nobody wants the fate of Wales to be determined by hanging chads in Caerphilly and a stand off position while the matter goes through the courts like it did in the US when George Bush was up against Al Gore. 

A decision is awaited on when the count will take place.  Let’s hope we have  clear cut decision soon. 

Yesterday in the debate on transport initiated by Plaid Cymru, we were supportive of the Plaid Cymru motion and also voted for various amendments that were put down by the Liberal Democrats.  

One amendment which didn’t seem to find favour with Plaid Cymru or with the Labour Welsh Assembly government concerned the North/South air service. My own view of this is that it is going to cost an enormous amount of money for little benefit, and given the environmental concerns of flights these days, I would have thought that the money could be more wisely spent on improving public transport in terms particularly of rail improvements.  

I know that Peter Hain has been very much in favour of this on the Labour side, but I can’t find anyone else on the Labour side who seems to be speaking up vociferously for it, and yet they opposed this, seemingly to me, sensible amendment.  Is Peter Hain calling the shots? 

In First Minister’s questions today I asked Rhodri Morgan about the funding for Brachytherapy treatment in Wales. 

There is a significant number of people in Wales who need this treatment, and Health Commission Wales, which is responsible for the funding, just doesn’t have the funds and although there may be funds available elsewhere in Wales it doesn’t seem that it is getting to the people who need it for this vital treatment for prostate cancer. 

I think Rhodri Morgan does share my concern to be fair but he seems to feel that the money could come from local health boards, and I don’t think that is the case, certainly not directly. 

As a result of the questions in First Minister’s question time today from me and from others, I hope now that this will be given the urgent consideration that it deserves.  I certainly know from my own post bag and from speaking to people that treatment has been withdrawn at Manchester, Liverpool and Oswestry for North Wales patients, and there clearly is a massive need that needs to be met here and we need to move quickly to meet that need. 

I was extremely relieved that the results of a Wales wide campaign over Christmas against drink driving have proved a huge success, with 12% fewer people failing the tests. Of 14,194 breath tests conducted across Wales in a month-long campaign, 564 drivers IE. Only 5.2% failed. 

Making our roads safer has been a key campaign of mine during my time as an Assembly Member and I am extremely pleased that our police forces are making progress in tackling what they refer to as “irresponsible actions”. Education also has a part to play and powerful messages at schools and in the media all help. 

I welcome the zero-tolerance approach adopted to drink-driving and congratulate the police on a job well done. 

I hope people across Wales will have realised that drink-driving will not be tolerated at any time of the year and I will work with the Police to make sure this message gets across. 

On Thursday Jonathan Morgan and I launched  some policy initiatives on the NHS.

A commitment to fund new approved drugs throughout Wales once such drugs have been sanctioned as clinically appropriate formed one of the key announcements.  Labour has dragged its heels on ending the post code lottery that prevails in relation to drugs.This is totally unacceptable as new and life saving drugs become available.We must make these available to Welsh patients free as a matter of course regardless of their ability to pay which is very much not the case at the moment.

We are also very much committed to a trial of a nurse led walk in centre for patients.The trial would be in North Wales ( probably in Wrexham) prior to this policy being rolled out throughout Wales.We have already spearheaded this as a policy in the National Assembly

Then we have made pledges on cleanliness and the standard of nutrition in hospitals.

More policy announcements will be made on health which I have identified as our top priority in government.

Meanwhile our candidates and local parties have been conducting action days to publicise thes key policy announcements.

 So far 2007 has been a curious year.There  has been the spectacle of a clutch of cabinet ministers leading protests against cabinet enforced  cuts in hospital services — step forward Hazel Blears and John Reid.There is an  almost audible gnashing of teeth from Leicester West, constituency of Patricia Hewitt ,the Health Secretary , particularly as her own area suffers from some of these projected changes.

Then there is Ruth Kelly’s decision to take up the opportunity of private education for one of her children– a decision for her,of course, but it really does go to the heart of Labour’s division.At least half the party seems intent on taking away that opportunity; the remainder of the party believes, as I do, that the choice should be there.

Then we have all this praise lavished on Margaret Thatcher by Gordon Brown.I hope incidentally that he had tipped off Rhodri Morgan who regularly tries to conjure up Margaret Thatcher’s memory  with the opposite intent.The problem for Rhodri is that his guru seems keen to plough a different furrow.

Stranger still is  the revelation that La France, a country I love, sought union with the United Kingdom in the 1950s. Now I have always believed that differences between France and Britain were overstated and obscured great similarities in the national character of the two countries but since one of those similarities between the two is a proud patriotism and pretended distrust of the other the news came as a surprise.

Two items of news deseve special mention.The first is a pebble in the pond which has certainly created ripples– the dreadful Jade Goody.The racist bullying that the Hogarthian grotesque which is Jade Goody subjected Shilpa Shetty to demeaned a nation and also threatened to damage good relations with India and impair community relations at home.This has been offset to some extent by a decisive vote to eject the Goody. Thank goodness that there is a basic decency amongst most people in the country which was horrified by the ignorant and racist outbursts.Still there are serious questions about the broadcaster Channel 4– headed now for my  Room 101 along with Jonathan Ross.

 I suspect that the most significant news of the week is the emergence of Barack Obama as a likely presidential contender.A young and relatively inexperienced senator, the junior senator for Illinois he would if he becomes President still be older than JFK was but considerably less experienced.What is heartening is that the main obstacle for him seems to be his inexperience and not his colour.Indeed he offers hope and a fresh start and despite his relative inexperience is clearly able and engaging.Sounds familiar. We could even see a Cameron- Obama axis.

And well done Andy Murray!