Dr Roger Berry (Kingswood)

It is with much pleasure that I rise to make my maiden speech. I have long wondered what the corridors of power were like. Little did I realise that, one day, I would have a desk in a corridor and, a few days later, a telephone. No doubt, given the ministerial statement last week, docklands is the next place on the agenda for Members.

Like my hon. Friend the Member for Lewisham, West (Mr. Dowd), I received advice from colleagues about making my maiden speech and was told about the traditions. I put to one side my normal response to the word "tradition"—recalling that tradition is the democracy of the dead—and listened to what they told me. They said, "You must be non-controversial, must ay nice things about your predecessor and your constituency and, above all, must be brief." They did not say, "You must never plan to make your maiden speech in the Committee stage of the Maastricht Bill before you know the outcome of the Danish referendum."

My predecessor, Rob Hayward, paid me the compliment of referring to me in the Chamber before the general election. I assume that he did so in response to the vigour of my activities as Labour leader on Avon county council. In so doing, he established a new tradition in the House. I am aware of the tradition that new Members say nice things about their predecessor. Mr. Hayward established the tradition that existing Members say nice things about those who are destined to replace them. Notwithstanding our substantial political differences, I should like to place on record my gratitude for the work that he did for many constituents in Kingswood. I wish him well in the future.

The constituency of Kingswood straddles the boundary between the city of Bristol and the borough of Kingswood. Half the constituency lies within the city of Bristol, parts of which were previously represented by Arthur Palmer and my right hon. Friend the Member for Chesterfield (Mr. Benn). The half of the constituency in the borough of Kingswood—if hon. Members are still with me—was previously represented by my good friend, Terry Walker, and the hon. Member for Wansdyke (Mr. Aspinwall). I should like to thank them for my inheritance.

That list shows that Kingswood has a rich and diverse political history. It also has a rich and diverse industrial history. It used to be an important area of coal mining —it is no longer so—and it used to be an important area for the boot and shoe manufacturing industry, but today only one firm is engaged in that work. Today, most of my constituents work in aerospace, defence-related industries, other manufacturing industries, financial services, local government and the health service. Many jobs have been lost in all those sectors.

Unemployment, or, according to the Government's statistics, the number of unemployed claimants—a rather different figure—has trebled in Kingswood in the past two years. I say to the hon. Member for Welwyn Hatfield (Mr. Evans), who yesterday described the unemployed as "layabouts" and received no rebuke from his colleagues, that that is due not to a sudden outbreak of laziness in my constituency but to the fact that many manufacturing companies have shed hundreds of jobs. The list—Rolls-Royce, British Aerospace, DRG Cartons, Bendix Engineering, Avon Tin Printers—is very long. Hundreds of people have been laid off.

My unemployed constituents are not layabouts. They spend day after day and week after week looking for work. They are unemployed because work is not available. On their behalf, I resent the comment about them yesterday. My remarks reflect the views not only of my unemployed constituents but of unemployed people throughout the country and, I hope, of the majority of people.

Unemployment and record interest rates have caused mortgage misery for thousands of families in my constituency, as elsewhere. There has been a record number of home repossessions because people have lost their jobs and because mortgage interest rates have been so high.

The problem of homelessness in Bristol and Kingswood is second only to that in London. That is a result of the economic position in which my constituents find themselves. They want the Government not simply to sit on their hands but to take appropriate action. That is why I strongly support amendment No. 2. Measures to stimulate investment in manufacturing are not everything, and can never be, but they are an important part of a programme that any sane Government would propose to restore manufacturing and to reduce unemployment.

Yes, of course other things can be done to reduce unemployment, such as releasing local council receipts to allow them to build the homes that people need and to repair crumbling schools. Yes, of course there should be an action programme for the long-term unemployed and greater investment in training.

I say in response to the hon. Member for Bridlington (Mr. Townend) that, yes, more investment should be made in education as well. Before becoming a Member, I worked in higher education. I can tell the hon. Gentleman that the problem of underfunding in higher education is serious. I can tell him that Avon county council is working hard to train and educate young people. It is not helped when the Government's spending target requires the county council to make cuts of 12 per cent. or 13 per cent. in education year after year. The hon. Member for Bridlington was right—investment in education is important—but I would digress too far if I said any more about that.

6 pm

The importance of manufacturing was outlined earlier. Reference was made to the Lawson report. Mr. Lawson, a former Chancellor of the Exchequer, made a big point of saying that he failed to understand why manufacturing was especially important. I offer two reasons. First, manufacturing is the engine of the economy. It is the sector of the economy which, above all, is engaged in innovation and developing new products. It is an engine for growth, which is why the economies that grow the most rapidly are those with a strong manufacturing sector. Secondly, as has been said, our balance of trade is crucially dependent on our performance in manufacturing. Our economy is faced with a 0.5 per cent. predicted growth rate for this year—the worst growth rate for any of the European Community countries—and has an annual current account deficit heading for between £10 billion and £12 billion this year, following the most tentative signs of economic recovery imaginable. If such an economy is not in need of investment, I do not know what kind of economy is.

For those who can see, there is enough evidence to suggest that Britain's lack of competitiveness is a serious matter. Restoring that competitiveness is an essential part of any strategy to reduce unemployment in my constituency or anywhere else. For that reason, I urge hon. Members to support the amendment.

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