20/03/2010

Impact of Labours St Athan school for mercenaries

 As labour politicians line up to welcome the St Athan school for mercenaries the Echo reports Sat 20th March 2010 that the potential impact of the proposed Defence Technical Academywill be discussed this week by Vale of Glamorgan leaders - they will discuss a "service impact assessment" which recommends continued discussions with Metrix, WAG and MoD! Perhaps they should have done this before they gave planning permission. They haven't even assessed what impact will this have on Welsh culture or language!
 

Hansard ...St. Athan Defence Training College
Oral Answers to Questions — Wales
House of Commons debates, 17 March 2010, 11:30 am
Don Touhig (Islwyn, Labour)
What recent discussions he has had with Welsh Assembly Government Ministers on preparations for the construction of the defence training college at St. Athan.
Wayne David (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Wales Office; Caerphilly, Labour)
May I begin by paying tribute to the excellent work that my right hon. Friend has done over a number of years and wish him well in his retirement?
My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has discussed with the First Minister the significant economic benefits that the defence training college will bring as the single largest defence investment in Wales.

Don Touhig (Islwyn, Labour)
As we celebrate St. Patrick's day, we should all remember, of course, that St. Patrick was a Welshman born in the county of Gwent.
The defence training college will greatly increase the defence footprint in Wales, and will lead to the creation of large numbers of highly paid and highly skilled jobs, but will my hon. Friend confirm whether it is still the Government's policy to allow private companies to buy training packages from what will be a world-class facility?

Wayne David (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Wales Office; Caerphilly, Labour)
I confirm that the Labour Government's policy remains unchanged: bona fide defence organisations will, of course, have the opportunity to use this excellent £12 billion facility. May I also emphasise that this is the single largest defence investment Wales will have ever seen? Labour Members are fully committed to it, and I only wish that Opposition Members were equally committed.

Mark Pritchard (Wrekin, The, Conservative)
If the Government press ahead with the construction of this defence training college, how will Ministers address the fact that a recent survey by the Public and Commercial Services Union suggested that 74 per cent. of civilian instructors will be either unwilling or unable to relocate from Shropshire to Wales because of the difference in house prices?

Wayne David (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Wales Office; Caerphilly, Labour)
The hon. Gentleman is a long-standing and consistent opponent of this exemplary defence establishment, which is most unfortunate. [Interruption.] Labour Members are full-square behind it. We recognise that this will be a huge investment for south Wales. [Interruption.] It will be a massive boost for the Welsh economy, providing thousands of jobs and, most importantly, first-class training for our armed forces.

John Bercow (Speaker)
Order. There are far too many private conversations taking place on both sides of the Chamber. It is very unfair to the Member asking the question and to the Minister answering it.

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