§ 8. Mr. FlynnTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales what new proposals he has to safeguard jobs in Wales.
§ Sir Wyn RobertsThe way in which to safeguard jobs is to ensure a steady economic recovery and sustainable growth. Our strategy—low inflation and sound public finances—does just that. We are also pressing ahead with our policies on deregulation, on encouraging enterprise, and on fighting for open and competitive markets.
§ Mr. FlynnWhy is the Welsh Office standing by watching so many winning Welsh teams being wrecked? I refer, for example, to the jobs in the brilliantly successful Du Pont group in Pontypool. The Patent Office in Newport is under threat although it has just been awarded a chartermark. Does not the Minister realise that many of the regional policy successes are likely to be destroyed by the Government's mania for privatising everything? Will he give a guarantee today that if privatisation goes ahead, none of the jobs that have come to Wales, such as those at DVOIT in Swansea, the Accounts Services Agency and the Patent Office, will be relocated outside Wales?
§ Sir Wyn RobertsThe hon. Gentleman is aware that his question about the Patent Office in his constituency is a matter for the Department of Trade and Industry and for 8 the President of the Board of Trade. The hon. Gentleman talked about getting rid of jobs. He did not mention all the jobs that have come into Wales. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State talked of today's announcement from Sega. Over the past few weeks, we have had announcements about Hamilton Oil at Connah's Quay in north Wales, and further jobs created by Asat and Aiwa in south Wales.
§ Mr. Matthew BanksDoes my right hon. Friend agree that one of the best things that the Government can do to safeguard jobs in Wales is to continue the polices of promoting the right economic climate, which have been so successful in promoting existing businesses as well as attracting new business opportunities?
§ Sir Wyn RobertsMy hon. Friend is quite right and I am reminded that Wales continues to get 20 per cent. of the United Kingdom's inward investment. It is worth remembering also that some 40 per cent. of European investment from outside Europe comes in to the United Kingdom. Our job is to continue that good work and to support the companies that have come here. I am delighted to say that we are doing that through the export missions that we are leading abroad.
§ Mr. Donald AndersonWill the Minister look with great care at the special problems of the construction industry in Wales, which is now flat on its back and has many jobs haemorrhaging? Surely that industry is heavily dependent on the public sector. Is there not a real danger that, in the Budget, there will be a twofold pressure on the construction industry, both from national ordering and local government ordering as a result of the pressure on local government expenditure? Will he look at the problems of the construction industry, which can create or destroy so many jobs?
§ Sir Wyn RobertsThe hon. Gentleman realises only too well that a considerable public sector capital programme exists in Wales. One of the areas for which I am responsible—roads in Wales—is running at a record level of some £200 million a year. Like the Chancellor, I am in the Budget purdah, but I am sure that, unlike the Labour party in the 1970s, we shall seek to protect capital spending even if it means cutting revenue spending.
§ Mr. John MarshallDoes my right hon. Friend accept that inward investment in Wales would be killed if we introduced a national minimum wage or signed the social charter? Is not it significant that those who seek to sell Wales short will destroy the Welsh economy by the restrictions that they suggest?
§ Sir Wyn RobertsThe Government are accustomed to hearing Opposition right hon. and hon. Members run down Wales. My hon. Friend is absolutely right. On the one hand, they complain about wage levels in Wales, even though since 1990 wage levels in Wales have been rising at a faster rate than in the rest of Great Britain. At the same time, they argue for the minimum wage, which would certainly be a cause of increased unemployment in Wales.
§ Mr. RowlandsIs it not the case that the right hon. Gentleman and his predecessors have failed hopelessly to safeguard jobs in the south Wales coal mining industry? There are no pits or jobs left in communities such as mine, which has resulted in 40 per cent. of men being either out of work or economically inactive. What new initiative does 9 he have to create male jobs and male employment? The right hon. Gentleman should not just wave glossy brochures, which do not contain a new initiative in that respect.
§ Sir Wyn RobertsBefore the hon. Gentleman denigrates the valleys initiative, he should remember that, were it not for that initiative in 1988, we should be 10,000 jobs the poorer in south Wales. He must understand that the programme, which my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has just extended, means £1 billion of investment in the south Welsh valleys. That will improve the quality of life for the people of the valleys and bring in new jobs.
§ Mr. Ron DaviesThat is an untrue and utterly outrageous claim. In every travel-to-work area in the region covered by the valleys initiative, unemployment rose during the time of that initiative.
I draw the attention of the Minister to a speech made by the Secretary of State for Wales at Cliveden on 30 September, when he said:
in the European Community, a single currency would be bad news.How does the Minister think that that can be reconciled with the European summit decision of last week to press ahead with full economic and monetary union and what Helmut Kohl described as a "very personal commitment" from the British Prime Minister? Is it not clear that there is a massive difference of opinion between the Secretary of State and the Prime Minister? Given that the Secretary of State has lost all credibility, how does he think that he will safeguard his own job, let alone that of anybody else in Wales?
§ Sir Wyn RobertsI am sure that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State can safeguard himself as well as his job.
On the hon. Gentleman's first point about unemployment in the valleys, United Kingdom unemployment is now more than 24 per cent. higher than it was in 1988 when the first programme began, but in the valleys it is 4.5 per cent. lower, which means that there are 10,000 more people at work in the valleys than there would have been had we followed the national trend.
As to the hon. Gentleman's comments about the events of last week, I am sure that it is right that we should be at the heart of Europe. We understand only too well that arguments about the future course of Europe will proceed and will be with us for a long time to come.