Political Career
In 1999, Francis became a Special Advisor to Paul Murphy, the Secretary of State for Wales. Murphy worked in this position until 2000. The following year, he was elected to the House of Commons. He was re-elected in May 2005. He is the Chair of the Welsh Affairs Select Committee, Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Archives and History, and a former Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Steel and Cast Metal, and Chair of the All Party Carers Group.
Hywel Francis voted in favour of a bill that banned smoking in restaurants in April 2003. In December 2004 and October 2005, he voted in favour of the Identity Cards Bill. In March 2002, he voted to ban the hunting of wild mammals with dogs. He voted in favour of the NHS Foundation Trust proposal. He also voted in favour of allowing unmarried heterosexual and homosexual couples to adopt, and in favour of the Civil Partnership Bill. Hywel Francis voted in favour of the replacement of the Trident system.
He voted in favour of adding clauses to a bill that allow the Secretary of State to detain indefinitely, pending deportation, anyone he suspects is a terrorist, even if the law forbids that person's deportation from ever taking place. He voted against only allowing people detained at a police station to be fingerprinted and searched for an identifying birthmark if it is in connection with a terrorism investigation. He voted against changing the text in the Prevention of Terrorism Bill from "The Secretary of State may make a control order against an individual" to "The Secretary of State may apply to the court for a control order...".
In March 2003, he voted that the case had not yet been made for war against Iraq. In June 2003, he voted against a motion that would have recalled the Prime Minister's assertion that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction that could be used at 45 minutes' notice, and launching an independent inquiry into the intelligence received and the decisions that were based on it. In June 2007, he voted against a motion calling for an independent inquiry by a committee of Privy Counsellors into the Iraq War.
Hywel Francis fought against the closing of Port Talbot's magistrates and the moving of administrative posts to other locations, saying "Local justice needs to take place in a local setting." He has suggested that Wales could have a carers' commissioner that could be based on the children's commissioner.
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