CAIRNS STAYS SILENT IN BRIDGE ROW
WELSH Secretary Alun Cairns turned down interview requests yesterday as the number of people signing a petition in opposition to the naming of the second Severn Crossing in honour of the Prince of Wales passed the 32,000 mark.
Last Thursday’s surprise announcement that the iconic landmark will be rebranded to mark the 60th anniversary of the Queen “creating” Prince Charles the Prince the Wales at the age of nine has triggered intense controversy but the Wales Office said Mr Cairns was not available for interview.
The Welsh Government – which it was revealed last week had not objected to the renaming – also declined to comment.
Two Conservative Welsh Secretaries accused Plaid Cymru of using the debacle to try and undermine Wales’ place in the UK but the organiser of the petition denied it was party political.
And Plaid Cymru said it was the Welsh Secretary who had attempted to “weaponise the monarchy”.
Jamie Matthews, the 33-year-old Cardiff resident who launched the petition, denied that opposition was being driven by Plaid.
He said: “I couldn’t disagree more, to be honest. I can start by saying I’m not Plaid Cymru; that’s not my kind of background...
“[It’s] brought together all sorts of people. It’s true there are some people who are republican, there are some people who are nationalist, there are some people who have different opinions.
“What’s interesting, I think, is that most people are just a bit upset that the decision has been imposed rather than being consulted [on] and talked about... I think that’s probably what has united most people.”
Mr Matthews said he expected “a couple of hundred signatures maybe”. He added that it was “quite clear” people are “not going to give up”.
He said: “I would hope, obviously, that the Secretary of State will reconsider and that he can see the depth of feeling and hopefully look at maybe opening it out to consultation. I was hoping that maybe he’d have something like a schools competition or just something to involve people in a decision that really is going to stay with us for a while and is going to be [there] for future generations.”
Clwyd West Conservative MP David Jones, who was Welsh Secretary from 2012 to 2014, rejected the view the nation was in uproar about the decision.
He said: “I would think the vast majority of people either support it or are at least are neutral and it’s only those who have got an inherent antipathy towards the British crown who have been pursuing this, and indeed it is – it’s Plaid Cymru.”
The former Brexit Minister insisted only “a small minority of people across Wales” were upset, saying: “There may be 32,000 of them but in the context of a country of over three million people they are not a very large element. Most people are supportive and at worst frankly are completely neutral.”
He also said the issue was not a source of controversy in North Wales, stating: “Nobody has mentioned it to me. It’s just not registering at all as an issue.
“It’s a South Wales thing and it hasn’t got any traction in this part of the world.”
Arguing that it was not unreasonable to name the bridge in the Prince’ honour, he said: “He is after all the Prince of Wales. I think to call the bridge, which is a very impressive structure, the Prince of Wales Bridge actually dignifies the bridge as well as being a suitable tribute to the Prince of Wales himself.”
Preseli Pembrokeshire MP Stephen Crabb, who succeeded Mr Jones as Welsh Secretary, said he had “no strong feelings either way” about the naming of the bridge, although he was “marginally more in favour of St David’s”.
He said: “I can see why Plaid have jumped on this issue as another way to chip away at Wales’s place inside the union but I don’t think many people will be losing sleep over it. There are much bigger issues facing Wales that people need to be concerned about.”
Plaid Cymru Carmarthen East and Dinefwr MP Jonathan Edwards said it was the UK Government that had “dragged” the Prince of Wales into a political dispute.
He said: “It is the actions of our imperialist masters in London and Governor General Alun Cairns who have attempted to weaponise the monarchy, and have shamefully dragged Clarence House into the political arena...
“I have met Prince Charles several times. He and the Duchess of Cornwall are constituents of mine. I know the lengths that they and other members of the Royal family go to in order to avoid being dragged into political disputes...
“Rather than clutching at straws and trying to blame everyone else, the Conservative party and UK Government needs to take a step back, take responsibility, recognise the strength of feeling against its actions, and start a meaningful dialogue with the people of Wales.”