MP tells of Welsh woe

The Shrewsbury & Atcham MP questioned Wales's role in health services in Shropshire, flooding, tuberculosis in cattle, and "unfair and uncompetitive" grants to businesses given by the Welsh Assembly.

"The Welsh Assembly creates huge difficulties for English border towns," he told MPs.

Mr Kawczynski said the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital was losing £2 million a year as a result of the way the assembly paid for treatment across the border.

"We have patients coming from Wales to the hospital who get life-saving medication to which my constituents in Shrewsbury are not entitled," he told the Commons.

"I have to fight tooth and nail to secure life-saving treatments for my constituents that people from Wales get automatically in our hospital.

"That causes huge frustration and anger and divides our two communities."

The Conservative MP said 40,000 cows had to be killed in England last year as a result of bovine TB.

"It is such a shame that there is not more co-operation between our parliament here in London and the Welsh Assembly over the issue, which transcends our borders," he said.

"There should be far more co-operation in dealing with such major issues."

Mr Kawczynski said flooding caused "tremendous misery" along the length of the River Severn with Shrewsbury flooding repeatedly.

"The way to resolve the problem is not to have little barriers in each town, but to have a wet washland scheme across the border in Wales," he said.

"This would flood a large piece of agricultural land, which would become a marsh in the summer, encouraging wildlife, and a lake in winter."

The Conservative MP said it was unacceptable that a Government minister had intervened to block the idea.

By London Editor John Hipwood