§ Mr. Peter WalkerYes. I shall make many visits.
§ Dr. MarekI hope that the new Secretary of State will not follow the practice of his predecessor in giving selective, or statistically insignificant, simplistic figures, showing that black is white or white is black. When the right hon. Gentleman comes to north Wales, will he give me two hours of his time so that I can show him what is wrong with the Wrexham area and what local people expect him to pay attention to?
§ Mr. WalkerYes.
§ Sir Anthony MeyerWhen my right hon. Friend comes to north Wales, as he has done on a number of occasions—notably during the general election campaign—he will also perceive a number of things that are going right with the area and the new atmosphere of confidence and optimism that is beginning to burgeon.
§ Mr. WalkerSome recent developments in the area are encouraging. There has been a great deal of inward investment and new activity and a great deal of optimism. I shall listen carefully to what the hon. Member for Wrexham (Dr. Marek) tells me, but I think he will agree that some exciting things have also happened in Wrexham in the past few years.
§ Mr. Barry JonesWhen the right hon. Gentleman visits north Wales, will he bear in mind the 25 per cent. male unemployment rate in Holyhead and the 11,000 unemployed in the Shotton travel-to-work area? Will he also bear in mind the slashing of regional policy assistance from £137 million in 1979 to a proposed paltry £33 million next year? Will he remember the real-terms cut of 54 per cent. in our housing expenditure since 1979 and the loss of £672 million in rate support grant? I am asking the Minister on behalf of the people of Wales for a major change in policies. We expect him to fight in Cabinet for more resources to tackle our urgent problems.
§ Mr. WalkerWe could swap figures for most of the afternoon. I hope that the hon. Gentleman will bear in mind the very encouraging figures that I gave earlier about regional selective assistance applications. The jobs forecast in connection with those figures is up 70 per cent., while regional development grants in terms of jobs are up 61 per cent. so far this year. Those are remarkable figures.
§ Mr. Ieuan Wyn JonesWhen the Secretary of State visits north Wales, will he make sure that he visits the Ynys Môn constituency, the loss of which is at least one reason why his Government have no mandate in Wales? Will he commit the Government to investment in the A5 and particularly in bypasses for the villages, bearing in mind the very high unemployment rate in Holyhead? Will he make his visit to Ynys Môn at an early date?
§ Mr. WalkerI congratulate the hon. Gentleman on being elected for that constituency in spite of my efforts 13 to see that he was not. The hon. Gentleman talks about mandates. He is a member of a party that obtained 7.3 per cent. of the votes in Wales and should not lecture a party that obtained 30 per cent. The hon. Gentleman should reconsider his view.