NFB urges Blair not to move Griffiths

The National Federation of Builders (NFB) has this week written to Prime Minister Tony Blair urging him to keep current construction minister Nigel Griffiths in post pending his expected ministerial reshuffle this month.
Following strong rumours that Griffiths is to be promoted from a post he has held for a year, NFB chief executive Barry Stephens warned in his correspondence that the minister's departure would undo his "positive impact on the industry's advancement", which he said is starting to "bear fruit".
In the letter, Stephens added that Nick Raynsford's four-year term as construction minister, which ended in 2001, enabled "the relationship between government and industry to mature to a point where real progress was made through an in-depth understanding of the industry's dynamics, challenges and weaknesses on the part of the government".
An NFB spokesperson said: "The industry effectively lost its own minister with the appointment of Brian Wilson. The last thing we need now is an apprentice who'll need to learn the ropes and juggle other portfolio responsibilities."
Meanwhile, Wilson has recently announced his intention to stand down from politics after the next general election.
The MP for Cunninghame North took control of construction as part of his energy portfolio in 2001, when construction came under the control of the Department of Trade & Industry from the Department for Transport, Local Government and the Regions.
In a letter to his local constituency party, Wilson said his decision to bow out of politics was based on "personal rather than political reasons".