Will anyone be in office long enough to reopen tunnel?
RHONDDA MP Chris Bryant has summed up the chaos in Westminster in recent weeks with a brilliant speech in the House of Commons.
Mr Bryant was addressing Leader of the House Penny Mordaunt. He was calling for her to assist him in securing the reopening of the Rhondda Tunnel.
The tunnel is part of an abandoned railway that runs between the Rhondda and the Afan Valley. At 3,148m, it is the third-longest railway tunnel in Wales.
There has been a long campaign to reopen the tunnel for cyclists and walkers. However it is owned by the UK Government.
Addressing the issue in Parliament Mr Bryant laid out how hard it has been for him to secure a meeting with a minister on the issue.
He said: “We could reopen the Rhondda Tunnel which goes from Blaencwm to Blaengwynfi and it will be the second longest cycle tunnel in Europe, and a great local asset in some of the poorest areas in Wales.
“It belongs to the Department of Transport. So I’ve been trying to secure meetings with ministers.
“I met with the secretary of state, he was very enthusiastic, but unfortunately he was sacked and then he became the Home Secretary and then Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.
“I met with the minister but he was then made the Europe Minister and then the Chief Whip and then the Northern Ireland Secretary.
“I met with another minister, she then became the Chief Whip, she resigned, she un-resigned and then she was sacked.
“I was going to meet with the new Secretary of State for Transport, but she’s now minister at the FCDO.”
After laying out the trials and tribulations faced in trying to secure the reopening of the tunnel, Mr Bryant made an offer for Ms Mordaunt. “Can the Leader of the House do two things for me?” he said.
“First of all, can she make sure that whatever minister I now meet, they stay in place long enough to make sure we get the money?
“And secondly, will she personally, because she’s the fixed point in this government as far as I can see, could she come to the Rhondda Tunnel, we can dangle her down in a hole right down to the bottom and she can see it for herself.
“We will let her out again, probably. It’d be amazing, there will be lovely chaps to look after her as she’s going down and she won’t have to hit herself on the head or anything like that.
“It’s absolutely amazing, but we need to make this happen. Will she help?”
Mr Bryant’s comments in the chamber have received significant attention in recent weeks.
Following a contentious vote on fracking he said: “There was a group including several Cabinet ministers who were basically shouting at them and at least one member was physically pulled through the door into the voting lobby,” the MP alleged.
“Now that is completely out of order in our system.”