No confidence bid flops as AMs vote against it

A BID by Plaid Cymru to humiliate Alun Cairns in the National Assembly with a vote of no confidence has flopped after Labour AMs voted against it.

The vote would only have been symbolic as Mr Cairns is not a member of the Assembly and AMs have no power over UK Government roles.

Only nine AMs backed the no confidence motion with 40 against and no abstentions.

Plaid said Labour had let the Vale of Glamorgan MP off the hook, “despite his serious failures to do what’s best for Wales”.

Instead, a Welsh Government amendment that was heavily critical of Mr Cairns and regretted the lack of investment was passed.

Plaid Cymru had called the vote saying it had no faith in either Alun Cairns or the post of Secretary of State for Wales as a whole.

Plaid AM Simon Thomas said his party’s motion came after the refusal to back the tidal lagoon and an earlier decision by Theresa May not to progress with electrifying the railway between Cardiff and Swansea. In the end, there were three motions put to the vote in Cardiff Bay.

As well as Plaid Cymru’s, Labour’s successful amendment said AMs “regretted” the lack of investment in both the lagoon and electrification and called for “deeper and more sustained co-operation between the UK Government and the devolved governments”.

The new interim leader of the Conservative Assembly group Paul Davies put forward a motion saying they believed the role was “vital” and listing the “significant achievements” of Mr Cairns – although some of those were disputed by cabinet secretary Mark Drakeford.

Mr Drakeford told the chamber that one of the achievements listed was for his role in an “historic fiscal framework”.

He said despite Mr Drakeford having monthly meetings with then Chief Secretary to the Treasury David Gauke, he only remembered Mr Cairns being present for a photo opportunity, not any of the negotiations.

Opening the debate, Mr Thomas said: “I understand not everyone will support the content of the motion, and there are amendments before us, but I think it is vital that we allow ourselves to debate the motion of no confidence in the Secretary of State.

“We’re here to judge one man’s responsibility, and one man’s responsibility to deliver on manifesto commitments, and that’s what I want to judge the Secretary of State on a commitment in 2015 to do two major pieces of infrastructure investment in Wales, worth over £2bn of investment to electrify the railway between Swansea and Cardiff, and to support the tidal lagoon.”

He said Mr Cairns was elected on a manifesto to “finish the job on electrification and to support the tidal lagoon”.

“Since that 2015 manifesto circumstances have changed, many of them created by the Conservative Government itself, of course, in calling the referendum on leaving the European Union, but neither of those major investments have been made, calling into question not only the good words of the Secretary of State himself but, I think, politics more widely.

“All of us who stand for election on manifestos and I’ve seen some of the response this week from my constituents around this, who now feel that they are not being listened to, that manifesto commitments and promises can be broken willy-nilly.”

Rhun ap Iorwerth said Mr Cairns was “Westminster’s man in Wales, not Wales’ man in Westminster”.

“Alun Cairns is reinventing the role of Welsh Secretary as governor general for Wales? I oppose that in principle, I oppose that as a Welshman, and when it’s clear that that governor general is working against Wales’ interest, isn’t it incumbent on all of us to vote no confidence in him?”

Speaking about their motion, Mr Davies heaped praise on Mr Cairns saying he was responsible for city and regional deals across Wales and that he had “worked hard” on the development of Wylfa Newydd.

Fellow Conservative David Melding said a different motion could have put forward the “disappointment” felt from across the chamber without attacking the role.

Mark Drakeford spoke in support of an alternative Government motion.

He said he did not believe it was the place of the Assembly to put forward a vote of no confidence against an individual.

“There was very little in what Simon Thomas had to say in opening this debate that I would have dissented from at all,” he said.

“I think it is simply that on this side, we do not believe that it makes best sense for this institution to be drawn into passing motions of no confidence in individuals who are not elected to the National Assembly nor answerable to it.

“In the minds of the public, a motion of no confidence in a political setting has a particular purpose.

“If it is carried, the individual must resign. And we know that this would not be the case in this instance; it would be a gesture, the leader of Plaid Cymru told us.

“And my heart sank because I really did not believe that we had set up the National Assembly for Wales to be an outpost of gesture politics.

“This is more than the failure of an individual, it’s the failure of a Government.

“Of course it’s right that the National Assembly should register its verdict on the scale of anger and disappointment at the decision and pin responsibility where it lies. I think we have to go beyond that, and think how this could be put right in the future.”