ALUN Cairns wrote that he believes the Metrix/St Athan project would save the taxpayer £500m over 30 years (MP’s column Barry & District News, September 23), so I asked his MP’s office for evidence.

While waiting for Alun’s answer, let me point out that the £500m saving was first given by a journalist as a claim by Metrix.

The MoD have refused to tell Friends of the Earth what their alternative is (claiming commercial confidentiality), in the event that Metrix doesn’t proceed.

Perhaps our MP can find out - we do know that Metrix is wrong in saying it would be refurbishing facilities on nine bases.

Alun believes “highly developed technical training of our troops is essential”, but that is what the three forces already do. Plans to integrate common elements across the services would go ahead once the Metrix project is dropped, reportedly using vacant capacity at the Cosford and Blandford bases.

Mark Pritchard MP has long experience of armed forces matters and argues for using Cosford base. Rather than compete with his fellow Tories on the basis of misinformation from Metrix, let’s see Alun Cairns discuss MoD training with Pritchard and other MPs with MoD training bases in their constituencies.

Rather than hyping St Athan, can Alun not help them reach a common understanding in pressing for an affordable alternative to Labour’s £14 billion PFI, for as the BBC reported last week “it’s not impossible that something will go ahead (at St Athan) but it won’t be a gargantuan PFI”.

Max Wallis

Barry & Vale Friends of the Earth