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Who speaks for Wales?

David Cornock | 10:17 UK time, Thursday, 17 February 2011

Your starter for 10. Which member of the current UK government said this, in December 2009?

"I see Wales at the forefront of everything we do, not isolated, not a poor relation. I want to ensure that in every department of state there is a minister responsible for Wales to look at each and every policy in a Welsh context so that Wales gets the most from any policy."

There are no prizes, which is probably just as well as you all guessed it was , the current Secretary of State for Wales.

Nine months into government and the only department outside the Wales Office where there is a "minister responsible for Wales" is James Paice, the Agriculture Minister.

A dominated by coalition MPs concluded that Mrs Gillan was "marginalised" during Ö÷²¥´óÐã Office discussions over the future of Wales's only passport office.

It's not as if the Immigration Minister doesn't have some Welsh knowledge - Damian Green was born in Barry and his father was managing director of what was then Wales' dominant newspaper group.

Labour MP Owen Smith now believes he has found another example of Welsh interests being ignored in Whitehall. He says the department of health refused to consult the Welsh assembly government over an extension to the compensation scheme for victims of the contaminated blood scandal.

He argues that this is all the more puzzling as the minister who conducted the review on the department's policy on the subject, Anne Milton, also happens to be the minister responsible for relations with devolved administrations.

Mrs Gillan told Mr Smith she has been re-assured by the department that it did consult officials in Cardiff.

Now the Wales Office faces the challenge of defending the administrative headquarters of the army in Wales, the future of which was revealed by the Rhondda Labour MP Chris Bryant to be .

Defence Secretary Liam Fox told him: "There are ongoing discussions as he knows inside the armed forces at the present time, but as he's heard me say on a number of occasions, I'm very keen that we have United Kingdom Armed Forces and that we maintain the footprint as widely across the United Kingdom as we can."

No news yet on who is the Welsh minister inside the Ministry of Defence. Apparently, the policy of a Welsh minister in every department is still a runner.

It's said to be such a good idea Nick Clegg has decided to apply it to all the devolved areas and to announce the policy himself but, to the frustration of Cheryl Gillan, in his own time.

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