§ 17. Mr. Sillarsasked the Secretary of State for Wales if he will give the number of civil servants in his Department who are located in Wales and the number located in Whitehall, at the latest convenient date.
§ Mr. Peter ThomasOf the 799 non-industrial civil servants employed by the Welsh Office on 1st November, 1970, 768 were based in Wales and 31 in Whitehall.
§ Mr. SillarsIs the Secretary of State for Wales aware that he is the first person to hold that office without the advantage of a Welsh accent? His accent is as near Welsh as mine. Will the Secretary of State tell us whether it is true that both Ministers at the Welsh Office represent English constituencies? Does he not regard this as either an intolerable insult to the Welsh people or a sad reflection on the Welsh Tory Members of Parliament?
§ Mr. Peter ThomasIt is nice to see the hon. Gentleman coming into the game. The hon. Gentleman will not remember, but I was a Member of this House for many, many years representing a Welsh seat. I was also born in Wales, and I have a house in Wales. My hon. Friend the Minister of State and his family have lived in Wales for many years.
§ Mr. George ThomasWhilst I am in no way seeking to annoy the right hon. and learned Gentleman or his hon. Friend 648 the Minister of State, is he aware that my hon. Friend with that delightful accent—from North Wales, I should think; it was not a South Wales accent—is quite right to remind the House that, however much the Welsh people may be annoyed with the right hon. and learned Gentleman or the Minister of State, they can do nothing about it, because they cannot reject them at the polls? Tory Ministers have made sure of that.
§ Mr. Peter ThomasIf the right hon. Gentleman read the newspapers in Wales, and in particular the Welsh newspapers, he would find that the Welsh people have not been annoyed. They have accepted these appointments and think that they are a great improvement.