Wales has a new secretary of state. Welsh Conservative MP David TC Davies has been appointed to the role replacing Robert Buckland. The establishment of the role of Welsh secretary was long campaigned for to give Wales a voice in cabinet. But following devolution the power of the role has significantly diminished.
Mr Davies has been the MP for Monmouthshire since 2005. In his time in Parliament he has never been shy on sharing his views on a whole range of issues. Unlike many politicians he doesn't dance around his opinion and will often speak openly.
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Despite his long stint in parliament he is relatively unknown to large sections of the Welsh public. To help people get acquainted WalesOnline has put together some of his more controversial deeds and opinions.
Wombats and Russia
Mr Davies drew criticism after he was paid £750 an hour to appear on the television channel RT (previously know as Russia Today) on the programme "The News Thing". RT is essentially a propaganda vehicle for Russian leader Vladimir Putin. He received a total of £3,000 plus travel costs for appearing four times between December 2016 and September 2017.
Speaking to The Guardian at the time he said: “The News Thing has given me a fair chance to explain my opinions on Brexit immigration and transgender issues, for which I am grateful."
As the war in Ukraine kicked off in the spring, Mr Davies was challenged about the money he had received by Port Talbot man Steve Bray (better known as the Stop Brexit Man ). The MP became irate calling Mr Bray a "disgrace", a "nutcase" and told him to "get a job", prompting the protestor to call him a "wombat". You can see the exchange here :
Commenting on his appearances to WalesOnline Mr Davies said: "In my political career, I have made many hundreds of broadcast appearances on a wide range of media outlets. Most have been unpaid but every paid appearance has been declared according to the rules. I am delighted to have been appointed Welsh Secretary and look forward to delivering measures which improve lives and deliver prosperity for people across Wales."
Child refugees
In 2016 Mr Davies, the chairman of the Commons Welsh affairs select committee, said dental checks or hand x-rays to check bone density should be used to check ages of child refugees coming into the UK. At the time the British Dental Association said imposing dental checks would be “inappropriate and unethical”.
The British Dental Association pointed out that dental checks were unreliable for assessing age with a spokesman adding to the Guardian: “It’s not only an inaccurate method for assessing age, but it is both inappropriate and unethical to take radiographs of people when there is no health benefit for them. X-rays taken for a clinically justified reason must not be used for another purpose without the patient’s informed consent, without coercion and in full knowledge of how the radiograph will be used and by whom.”
Mr Davies suggested other tests including a hand x-ray to test bone density. He added: “We need to be quite hard-nosed here. People are desperate, they will say what they need to say to get in.”
LGBTQ+ issues
The Welsh Sec opposed the introduction of same-sex marriage in the UK and that, given it might alienate traditional Tory supporters called the plans "barking mad". He has also expressed the opinion that "most parents would prefer their children not to be gay".
Somewhat bizarrely he once tried to show his pro LGBT+ credentials by pointing out that he once fought (and beat) an openly gay boxer known as the "Pink Pounder" in an amateur boxing match.
Though he voted against the House of Commons Second Reading vote on marriage equality in Britain, in July 2019 he voted in favour of allowing same-sex marriage in Northern Ireland. In January 2018, Mr Davies tweeted: "Somebody possessing a penis and pair of testicles is definitely not a woman ... This should be a biological fact not a matter for political debate." He has tweeted several times about the issue.
Speaking to WalesOnline Mr Davies said: "I am a supporter of LGBTQ+ rights and voted in 2019 in favour of same sex marriage in Northern Ireland. I have also spoken publicly on many occasions about the fact that man made carbon emissions are having an impact on the climate."
Climate change
Before we delve into Mr Davies' views on man made climate change (the fact human activity is causing the heating of our planet is well-established scientific fact) we need to point out that in recent comments to WalesOnline he said that he accepts the role humans are playing in global heating. He said: "I fully accept the link between CO2 and climate change."
This has by no means always been his view however. According to the website DeSmog that highlights climate change denial, in September 2016 he said: "The BBC have accepted hook, line and sinker the so-called scientific consensus on climate change and not allowed anyone onto the airwaves who wants to question it.”
In September 2013 he proposed a debate on climate change in parliament, during which he said: "…It is not proven that the carbon dioxide that has gone into the atmosphere is responsible for the relatively small amount of warming that has taken place since industrialisation.” This statement is not correct.
He has used his column in the South Wales Argus to play down the unfolding climate disaster (which experts all agree will be catastrophic). In 2018 he wrote: “Over the last 250 years there has been an average increase in temperatures of less than one degree blamed on man made emissions of CO2, although even the alarmists at the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) accept that some is natural. However, an unholy coalition of environmentalists working with big businesses have persuaded various British ministers to phase out cheap electricity from coal and gas and replace it with non-CO2 generating alternatives such as wind, solar and nuclear.”
Mr Davies has also parroted several tropes used to delay action on climate change. In a 2016 parliamentary debate on the Paris Agreement he said: "There was a cooling from the 1940s onwards. That is why, when I was growing up in the 1970s, people were worried that the next ice age was coming.... So there has not really been an increase since 1998.
In October 2010 he reportedly attended a meeting of climate science deniers in the UK parliament called “Climate Fools Day,” organised by Democratic Unionist Party MP Sammy Wilson. Piers Corbyn was also in attendance.
Speaking to WalesOnline Mr Davies said: "I have also spoken publicly on many occasions about the fact that man made carbon emissions are having an impact on the climate."
On Mr Davies' appointment Plaid Cymru’s equalities spokesperson Sioned Williams MS said: “It is very worrying that the new Secretary of State for Wales holds intolerant views that are out of step with the values of modern Wales. Mr Davies has insulted a range of vulnerable groups, from trans people, to child refugees, to gay young people. These are archaic views for an archaic post.
“Rishi Sunak talks about bringing integrity and accountability into Downing Street. The Prime Minister must distance himself from the harmful comments of the new Secretary of State for Wales if his words are to mean anything.”
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