Dave Visits – again!
This Thursday and Friday David Cameron made his seventh visit to Wales within a year. I don’t believe Gordon Brown has been here since he became Prime Minister.
The visit was, in my view, an immense success. It started off with a reception in the Mansion House in Cardiff followed by an address to the Cardiff Business Club. This event was certainly oversubscribed and Dave’s speech featured on the overregulated nature of business and the need to simplify and rationalise the tax structure and also touched on the importance of the Skills Agenda and on the vital nature of the ease of communication for business.
The question and answer session that followed was, by common agreement, an extremely effective exercise in dealing with a vast range of issues in a very humorous and sensible way.
On the Friday, in addition to media demands and a visit to Newport Docks and a meeting with two Councillors defecting to us in Newport, there was a large Party function at Salt in the Bay attended by over 300 people. What was particularly pleasing was the number of young people at this event. I don’t think I have been to such a well attended event in Wales and well attended by young people for probably 15 years. It really was a stunning success.
The visit also afforded me an opportunity to discuss political issues with David at first hand which is always useful rather than by phone or other communication.
I spoke to my brother after the event and he told me “I understand you are meeting up with Glyn for lunch”. I said, “How on earth do you know that”, and he said it is on Glyn’s blog. Such is the power of the blog. My brother knew as much about what I am doing as I do.
The constitutional debate goes on. I believe that the case needs to be made for legislative powers and made powerfully but that shouldn’t detract from the fact that there is a whole political agenda which is of much more immediate importance to the people of Wales, delivery of an effective health service, delivery of good education, protecting our farmers, providing new business opportunities, ensuring access to housing for people. These are the issues which people talk about on the doorstep and which are truly important, but clearly we need the proper powers in order to be able to deliver what people want, and that is why the constitutional agenda is so important too.
sanddef said on December 10th, 2007 at 8:08 pm:
If this keeps up we’ll have to start calling him “Dai”
Nick M said on December 17th, 2007 at 3:54 pm:
The constitutional agenda can’t be that important to David Cameron as he pretty much forgot to mention it in his speech to the Cardiff Business Club. You should identify the clear blue water between London and Cardiff, Nick!