Cairns meets Fox over St Athan
Local MP Alun Cairns met the Secretary of State for Defence on Monday at the Ministry of Defence Offices in Whitehall to discuss the latest stages of the review into Defence Technical training and to champion the St Athan project in the Vale of Glamorgan.
The Vale MP wanted to underline the benefits of locating much of the forces’ training to St Athan in military terms. The local MP said that he was pleased with Mr Fox’s response who recognised many of the positive features St Athan could offer.
The meeting is part of Alun Cairns’ constant lobbying on behalf of the project following the disclosure that the consortium, Metrix couldn’t meet its plans last December. Mr Cairns said that a training facility in St Athan remains a positive prospect and that he wanted to maintain momentum.
Alun Cairns said, “I want to maintain pressure on the Ministry of Defence and underline the long term advantages of St Athan in both military terms and in financial terms.
“The Secretary of State responded warmly and committed to clarifying the next steps shortly.
“I recognise that the state of public spending means that we cannot move too quickly to our solution but believe that we are best placed to win through in the circumstances.
“The Secretary of State said that he would come back to me on the exact timing of his next announcement on training.”
Tags: Defence Training, St Athan