Nick Bourne AM

Over the last week the position of powers for the National Assembly has loomed large.

 
Barry Morgan, the Archbishop of Wales, whom I greatly respect and like, has entered into the fray.  I must say I do share the views of some that Barry is possibly overstepping the mark in speaking as Archbishop on these issues. Clearly he can have a view but it shouldn’t be a view from the pulpit as it were.

 
That said, I do tend to agree with his analysis that the position that we have got at the moment is untenable. It may not be a constitutional mess but Wales is being treated as if it isn’t to be trusted with these extra powers as if we are some far flung colony that can’t be allowed to put forward our own measure on recycling or mental health or whatever the topic is.  The present process is a very time consuming one and I think that sooner or later we are going to have to come back to the basic choice offered by the Richard Commission.

 
I strongly suspect, as time goes on and the polls seem to bear this out, it will be an incoming Conservative government that has to sort out the constitutional future of Wales and the ‘English question’.

How quickly a year goes. A year ago we were in the midst of the National Assembly campaign with some fantastic weather. It has been much more like traditional April weather this month, although with some good weather.

I have been campaigning throughout Wales – Flintshire, Denbighshire, Conwy, Wrexham, Ceredigion, Powys, Cardiff, Vale of Glamorgan, Swansea, Newport and Monmouth – to name but a few.

Reception is pretty favourable and there is a combination of local issues often Post Offices, the state of the roads, environmental services and waste collections featuring strongly, together, of course, with the national backdrop of the worsening economic situation and particularly the withdrawal of the 10p tax band.

In North Wales I was also able to visit Nightingale House in Wrexham to see the excellent work that is being done there. Hospices provide a fantastic service up and down Wales and the voluntary sector and hospice movement need to be brought in mainstream in the provision of health services and need to be involved in shaping them, and we need to ensure a sound financial footing for hospices as well with appropriate financial support.

I believe the Minister recognises this and she is certainly very open in listening to representations on this issue. Viv Sugar, meanwhile, is conducting a review of this important and crucial area of provision.

Whilst campaigning last night, I bumped into Vaughan Gething, my local Labour Councillor, while I was on the campaign trail with our candidate in Butetown. We are now sporting our new rosettes which are partly blue and partly green, reflecting the environmental emphasis that the Party is now placing on policy development and the challenges that we face as a country.

 
Last week I was very privileged to be present at the Memorial Service for Sir John Harvey Jones in Hereford Cathedral.  As was to be expected, it was extremely well attended.
 

I was reminded before setting off by colleagues that there was a request to wear jazzy, flashy ties rather than a sober tie for the occasion. No sign of Peter Black to lend me one – where is he when you need him!
The addresses from former colleagues and friends for Sir John in the Cathedral were very effective in conjuring up Sir John the man - irreverent, always full of good humour, indefatigable, charming and with a totally ‘can do’ philosophy.
He was really a one off and will be massively missed.

How quickly a year goes.  A year ago we were in the midst of the National Assembly campaign with some fantastic weather.  It has been much more like traditional April weather this month, although with some good weather.
I have been campaigning throughout Wales – Flintshire, Denbighshire, Conwy, Wrexham, Ceredigion, Powys, Cardiff, Vale of Glamorgan, Swansea, Newport and Monmouth – to name but a few. 
Reception is pretty favourable and there is a combination of local issues often Post Offices, the state of the roads, environmental services and waste collections featuring strongly, together, of course, with the national backdrop of the worsening economic situation and particularly the withdrawal of the 10p tax band. 
In North Wales I was also able to visit Nightingale House in Wrexham to see the excellent work that is being done there. Hospices provide a fantastic service up and down Wales and the voluntary sector and hospice movement need to be brought in mainstream in the provision of health services and need to be involved in shaping them, and we need to ensure a sound financial footing for hospices as well with appropriate financial support.
I believe the Minister recognises this and she is certainly very open in listening to representations on this issue.  Viv Sugar, meanwhile, is conducting a review of this important and crucial area of provision.
Whilst campaigning last night, I bumped into Vaughan Gething, my local Labour Councillor, while I was on the campaign trail with our candidate in Butetown.  We are now sporting our new rosettes which are partly blue and partly green, reflecting the environmental emphasis that the Party is now placing on policy development and the challenges that we face as a country. 

I see that the BNP has been producing a ‘video nasty’ – at least a video with a nasty message, which they have tried to disguise by using Katherine Jenkins in a Welsh rugby shirt to suggest that their message is somehow endorsed by Katherine Jenkins. Clearly it is not and this unauthorised use will be the subject of legal proceedings. 

We must be ever vigilant to try to defeat the BNP at the ballot box with their message of hatred. 

The Welsh Conservative local government launch, back at Sophia Gardens where just over a year ago we had a highly successful party conference in our test ground facilities. 

The sun was shining again today, both metaphorically and actually – it was a good launch, we were able to set out our policies for promoting lower Council Tax and value for money, encouraging recycling, safeguarding communities against Post Office closures and seeking to build more affordable housing. 

After the launch I accompanied Cheryl back to the house of her birth in Western Avenue, Llandaf. A couple of householders were taken aback in the middle of renovations as the Shadow Secretary proceeded to review the house of her childhood and with excited exclamation of recognising many features of the house still intact.  It was a moving moment!