STEPHEN CRABB has been accused of failing to listen to his constituents after cancelling a surgery in Milford Haven at short notice last Friday (Jul 17). Pleading ‘urgent ministerial responsibilities,’ the Secretary of State for Wales’ constituency office apparently told everyone booked into the surgery on Wednesday that it had been cancelled. However, both Mr Crabb’s website and facebook page carried no mention of the cancellation, and the surgery, which was to have been held in Nantucket Avenue, was still advertised after it was due to have finished.

No amend mentor apology had been posted on his facebook page at the time of going to press. Among those with a pressing desire to see Mr Crabb were representatives of People’s NHS Wales, who organised a demonstration outside his surgery. Mr Crabb released a statement which said: “I am sorry that representatives from Peoples NHS Wales were not able to see me today. As they had not let me know that they were going to be attending my surgery, I was not able to inform them that it had been rescheduled.

Everyone who had been booked into the surgery had been notified on Wednesday that it would not be taking place due to urgent ministerial responsibilities. “I am very happy to meet with any individual or group in my constituency to discuss any issue of concern and everybody who writes to me receives a reply.” This met with a bemused response from People’s NHS Wales representatives, who told The Herald that they had been trying to contact the Preseli Pembrokeshire MP since July 6, through emails, twitter, and finally a letter hand-delivered to his constituency office.

We were shown an email from July 8 from David Williams, which expresses his concern surrounding the future of the NHS both in England and Wales, as a result of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment partnership (TTIP). This received an automated response, which stated that ‘This acknowledgement has been triggered electronically as I have not yet had a chance to read your message’. Mr Williams wrote to Mr Crabb the next day, to confirm whether or not he had received the email, or indeed had chance to read it.

He received the same automatically triggered response, and had heard nothing more at the time of going to press. The People’s NHS are protesting against the privatization of the NHS in England, something that Mr Crabb denied had taken place under the coalition government at a hustings in Haverfordwest before the General Election. There are fears that TTIP will lead to NHS privatization over the border becoming irreversible, and the knockon effects this may have for the NHS in Wales. The People’s NHS is calling for an 83 word clause to be inserted into the TTIP agreement.

This clause, in full, reads: “The UK reserves the right to adopt or maintain any measure with regard to the organization, the funding, and provision of the National Health Service in the UK as well as with regard to the public and/ or the not for profit character of the National Health Service in the UK, where services may be provided by different companies and/ or public or private entities involving competitive elements which are thus not services carried out exclusively in the exercise of governmental authority.”

The People’s NHS is lobbying MPs, asking them to put pressure on Minister for Trade and Investment Francis Maude to ensure that this clause is inserted. After meeting with People’s NHS Wales representatives, James Davies, MP for the Vale of Clwyd, wrote to Lord Maude asking for his comments on their request. The organization would like Mr Crabb to do the same, or at least reassure them regarding the Westminster Government’s stance. However, on this occasion Mr Crabb had urgent ministerial responsibilities.

The Herald phoned the Welsh Office on Friday to try and get some idea of what these were. When asked what Mr Crabb’s urgent ministerial responsibilities were, we were told that he was visiting north Wales with the Chancellor, and we could find out more from his Twitter page. Entering into the realms of Twit, we found pictures posted by George Osborne and Mr Crabb of two cabinet Ministers apparently assembling an aeroplane wing, whilst dressed in hard hats and suits. Assuming that this was not the sole reason for missing a constituency surgery, and discounting the notion that it was a brazen photo opportunity, we trawled the North Wales newspapers, and found an article on the visit in The Leader, one of Wrexham’s finest publications.

Apparently: “George Osborne MP visited the 700 acre site along with Stephen Crabb AM, where he also discussed how the Government’s long term economic plan will benefit the area.” The italics are ours. In what was described as a ‘hands on visit’, Mr Osborne described how North Wales was ‘absolutely a part’ of the Northern Powerhouse, and pointed out the extent to which HS2 would benefit north Wales. Mr Crabb also made a pertinent contribution: “It is particularly impressive to see the indoor facilities that have just been completed for the Beluga Aircraft at Broughton,” he said. “These huge craft can now be loaded in all weathers, and I hope that leads to ever busier order books for Airbus.”

When we told People’s NHS Wales representative Jodie Evans why Mr Crabb failed to attend the surgery, her response was to-the-point: “He is letting residents and constituents down. A number of residents have written to him asking for reassurance on this matter.” Mr Crabb has yet to announce when he will be holding another surgery in the Milford Haven area.