Cairns: Closing the education funding gap

Speech to the National Assembly for Wales.

"The purpose of this motion is to call for a clear timetable for closing the funding gap between schools in Wales and England. Given that the Welsh Assembly Government has not tabled any amendments to the motion and in view of the fact ...

Cairns: Improving safety on school transport

Speech to the National Assembly for Wales.

"I thank the Minister for his statement and I recognise the priority that the Assembly Government places on school transport by making available legislative time in these early stages of the new Assembly.

However, I am sorry to say that that is as ...

Cairns: Helping dyslexic people in Wales

Speech to the National Assembly for Wales.

"I am delighted to have won the ballot for the short debate, as research into the benefits or otherwise of the Dore programme should not stop because of the election. I come to this issue from a background of having a particular interest ...

Cairns: Conservatives winning for Wales

Speech to the Welsh Conservative Party conference in Cardiff.

"Thank you Mr Chairman. It is a pleasure to be here today and to have the opportunity to respond to this excellent debate.

I am quite touched that so many have turned out to listen to my speech today - and I ...

Cairns: Education and economy suffer under Labour in Wales

Speech to the National Assembly for Wales.

"I thank the Secretary of State for his presence today, and the First Minister for opening the debate. I also wish Elizabeth well in her recovery; I am sure that the Secretary of State will extend to her the good wishes of all ...

Cairns: Welsh wealth gap widens under Labour

Speech to the National Assembly for Wales.

"It is clear from comments made by the First Minister and the Minister for Enterprise, Innovation and Networks, and from those made by their Labour colleagues, that the Labour Party plans to make the economy central to its election campaign.

This makes several ...

Cairns: Welsh manufacturing crumbling under Labour

Speech to the National Assembly for Wales.

"I almost feel sorry for the Minister in that the Government has proposed a debate on the manufacturing sector when, quite obviously, it is experiencing an extremely difficult time.

As has already been highlighted, several thousands of manufacturing jobs have been lost just ...

Cairns: Government scrutiny and accountability

Speech to the National Assembly for Wales.

"My prime reason for choosing this as a subject for discussion is my concern over what I consider to be a risk that faces the Assembly, which could have a wider implication for other public bodies in Wales. In essence, it is a ...

Cairns: Welsh economy at risk from WDA wind-up

Speech to the National Assembly for Wales.

"Thank you, Mr Llywydd, for the opportunity to contribute to this debate, albeit when the schedule is extremely brief and tight. That is indicative of the whole process that has led up to this final motion. The First Minister made his statement to ...

Cairns: Celebrating Commonwealth Day in Wales

Speech to the National Assembly for Wales.

"Thank you for the opportunity to contribute to this debate. It is important to thank the Business Committee and the Business Minister for agreeing to such a debate being tabled at the request of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association executive.

As has been said ...

Cairns: Labour must fulfil commitment on EU funding

Speech to the National Assembly for Wales.

"I am grateful to Plaid Cymru for nominating the debate and to the acting Deputy Presiding Officer for selecting the amendment and calling me to speak to it.

In the first instance, it is clear that the match funding debate was exceptionally important ...

Cairns: Labour is failing businesses in Wales

Speech to the National Assembly for Wales.

"One Member remarked to me earlier how snappy the motion is, but it has been written and presented in this way for very specific reasons. The first is to highlight the Government's failure to achieve its economic targets. For the First Minister ...

Cairns: Centralisation or localism

To the Welsh Conservative Party conference in Llandudno.

"Thank you Mr Chairman for your kind introduction. It is a pleasure to have the opportunity to address the conference and in particular to follow Professor Dylan Jones Evans.

There's no doubt that attracting Dylan to stand for the Conservative Party ...

Cairns: Ladder of opportunity kicked away from DARA workers

Speech to the National Assembly for Wales.

"I thank the Minister for his report and thank and congratulate James Arbuthnott, as chairman of the Select Committee on Defence, which published such a damning report on the New Labour Government policy and on the effects that that policy has had on ...

Cairns: Putting Welsh transport on track

Speech to the National Assembly for Wales.

"This motion stems from last week's transfer of functions to the First Minister, when grave concerns were highlighted about the way in which many railway policies are developed.

The purpose of this motion is to establish a committee to formulate a programme ...

Cairns: Wales short changed on state aid regime

Speech to the National Assembly for Wales.

"It would be discourteous of me not to respond to some of the points that the Minister has made about 'Wales: A Vibrant Economy', bearing in mind that he used a significant part of his speech to talk about it.

I should also ...

Cairns: Welsh quango wind-up plans 'ill thought-out'

Speech to the National Assembly for Wales.

"This order and motion shows that we are approaching the end of the Government's policy on quangos, which is an ill-thought-out, written-on-the-back-of-a-fag-packet policy that is really based in dogma.

Now, I was not the strongest advocate of everything that the WDA said ...

Cairns: The future of energy provision in Wales

Speech to the National Assembly for Wales.

"No-one would question the energy needs of the Welsh economy, or even the history, as the Minister has said, or even the amount of consideration that the Welsh Assembly Government has given to the development of energy sources. However, we would certainly question ...

Cairns: DARA workers betrayed by Labour

Speech to the National Assembly for Wales.

"This is very different from the fanfare and celebration when the turf was cut some years ago, which was conveniently before two key elections.

Do you believe that the staff and workers at the site have been betrayed? Julie Morgan's belief that ...

Cairns: Will dredging destroy the UK's first area of outstanding natural beauty?

Speech to the National Assembly for Wales.

"Under the title of this debate, 'Will Dredging Destroy the UK's First Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty?', there are two main issues that I wish address and that I ask the Minister to respond to.

The first issue relates to recognising Gower ...

Cairns: Government must recycle its renewable energy policy

Speech to the National Assembly for Wales.

"I propose the Conservative Party's motion, which calls on the Government to review its renewable energy policy, to redraft technical advice note 8 and to encourage and facilitate new forms of renewable energy, thus reducing its emphasis on wind.

Central to our ...

Cairns: Quango wind-up hits Welsh economy

Speech to the National Assembly for Wales.

"I wish to highlight the dreadful effects that the Minister's decisions have had on the Welsh Development Agency, and their impact in influencing the Welsh economy.

It is useful that the Minister highlighted the consultation with the unions. I have in front ...

Cairns: Special educational needs in Wales

Speech to the National Assembly for Wales.

"No-one would disagree that pupils and students with special educational needs are among the most vulnerable in society.

Therefore, our obligation to people with learning difficulties is greater than it would otherwise be.

Many strategies and reports have been published by the Welsh ...

Cairns: More bad news for the Welsh economy

Speech to the National Assembly for Wales.

"I express my sympathy for those who work for Christie Tyler, not because they have lost their jobs—I hope that it never gets to that point—but because of the uncertainty that they face.

The key question that comes to mind is ...

Cairns: Welsh economy in disarray under Labour

Speech to the National Assembly for Wales.

"I am grateful to the Minister for his statement, and I echo the comments made about those people who have lost their jobs; let us not forget that there are mortgages that depend on those jobs, and many people have already committed, or ...

Cairns: Government chaos over Welsh quango wind-up

Speech to the National Assembly for Wales.

"I am not sure whether five minutes will be enough to cover all of the issues, but you will be pleased to hear that I have highlighted three clear themes arising from the amendments to make my comments more concise.

The three clear ...

Cairns: Lower taxes in Wales

Speech to the Welsh Conservative Party conference

"Ladies and Gentlemen, my name is Alun Cairns and I am the parliamentary candidate in the Vale of Glamorgan.

This session of the conference is about the Economy, Red tape and the Conservative pledge to Lower Taxes.

Andrew Davies, the next Member of ...

Cairns: Regret at Welsh job losses

Speech to the National Assembly for Wales.

"On behalf of the Welsh Conservative Party, I join the Minister in expressing regret at the loss of these jobs.

The Welsh Assembly Government cannot be held wholly accountable for the changes in the marketplace that have led to these job losses.

However ...

Cairns: Double standards over Welsh public appointments

Speech to the National Assembly for Wales.

"The title of the debate is 'Open Government, Nolan, the Economic Development Minister and the Welsh Development Agency', and it would not take a genius to calculate the point that I am seeking to make. I wish to draw the public's attention ...

Cairns: Welsh government must turn spending into delivery

Speech to the National Assembly for Wales.

"Having heard the comments made by the Minister and the Member for Blaenau Gwent, I hope to speak some sense.

From listening to them, it would seem that there will be enormous improvements in the quality of public services as a result of ...

Cairns: Government will miss Welsh growth target

Speech to the National Assembly for Wales

"This is not the first time that I have tabled such an amendment, and its purpose is to gain the Minister's recognition that 'A Winning Wales' and the targets contained in it will not be achieved.

Pretending otherwise makes the Assembly—or ...

Cairns: Assembly must listen to anti-wind farm campaigners

Speech to the National Assembly for Wales

"I understand that this is the first time that such a motion has been proposed in the Assembly. Therefore, as you stated, Dirprwy Lywydd, we are in uncharted waters.

I am grateful for the guidance that you issued to all Assembly Members, which ...

Cairns: Government must do more for transport in Wales

Labour ministers urged to get Wales moving.

Speech to the National Assembly for Wales

"I welcome the Economic Development and Transport Committee's approach, in conjunction with the Welsh Affairs Select Committee, in relation to the recent pre-legislative scrutiny of the draft Transport (Wales) Bill.

That has contributed greatly to ...

Cairns: Air services vital for Wales

Speech to the National Assembly for Wales

"Airports and air services are important to the social and economic prosperity of Wales, but it is also easy to overstate the cases that have been highlighted.

There is no doubt that any business seeking to locate in the United Kingdom, or in ...