BLAENAU Gwent MP Llew Smith has claimed that people could not be bothered to vote in the recent Assembly elections because too much money is being spent in Cardiff compared to the Valleys.
Mr Smith made his attack at Welsh questions in the House of when he urged Welsh secretary Peter Hain to talk to Wales first minister Rhodri Morgan to get him to re-examine his priorities.
Mr Smith said: "The reason for the low turnout in the Assembly's elections is that voters don't see the Assembly as relevant to the problems they face."
He said instead of spending £100 million of a "glorified opera house in Cardiff Bay" the administration should plough investment into the most deprived Valley communities, like his own.
But Mr Hain said he did not think that was the cause for the low turnout. He said the turnout was even lower in Scotland which had its own parliament. And defending Cardiff, Mr Hain said the capital and Wales ought to be working together.
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