I was very interested in what the hon. Member for Wrexham (Mr. Idwal Jones) had to say about science and technology, and, in particular, the brain drain of graduates from the university. I had to study this subject and move a Motion at the Conservative Party Conference at Brighton recently, and I found a reference by Donald Hutchins, a lecturer at Oxford, who stated at a meeting of the British Association in Cambridge recently that one of the biggest dangers is that science and technology graduates prefer to stay in the university, in some academic post, rather than go out into industry. He pointed out how ironical it would be if the universities—the main providers of graduates in this sphere—were also to provide the biggest brain drain in this respect.

I congratulate the hon. Member on the fact that he has a new factory in Wrexham. We know that the Firestone Company has been looking round Wales for a considerable period. I believe that it looked at the old Prestcold factory at Swansea, but it is satisfactory, anyway, to find that it has come to Wales. This is a shaft of sunlight in the very gloomy picture presented today by the Secretary of State.

Before I pass to the main theme of my speech, I wish to enter a very strong protest at the lapse of about 16 months between the last opportunity we had of discussing Welsh affairs on the Floor of the House and today's debate. This seems to me to be a measure of the Government's scorn or even contempt for Wales and the Welsh people at present. Despite the promise which was given in their party document "Signposts to the New Wales" that there would be increased opportunities for the discussion of Welsh affairs on the Floor of the House, the Parliamentary time allocated is exactly the same as in the past, with the exception, of course, that on this occasion we have been relegated to the dregs of the present Session.

As my right hon. Friend the Member for Monmouth (Mr. Thorneycroft) pointed out, the Report which we are noting today covers only about 10 weeks—from mid-October to the end of December—of the Labour Government's period in office. As such, it is largely valueless as a document and a guide to what the Labour Government have or have not done for Wales in the past 12 months. It acts as a useful reminder of how pleasant life used to be in Wales under a Conservative Government.

Certainly, very little has happened since the publication of the Report to warrant any Welshmen or Welshwomen throwing their stovepipe hats into the air. Despite the flamboyant and optimistic claims expressed by right hon. Gentlemen and hon. Members opposite on the last Welsh day which were based on their policy document, "Signposts to the New Wales", and repeated in their election manifesto, the last 12 months have seen little progress. It has been a period mainly of stagnation, and, in some cases, of downright retrogression in Wales.

Despite the optimistic predictions and forecasts of the great things which were to follow from the appointment of the first Secretary of State for Wales, I am afraid that little, if anything, has so far been forthcoming. The voice of Wales has been curiously muted during the past few months. I fear that the Secretary of State is in danger of being christened the silent Secretary for Wales if he carries on in this way.

We were promised first of all in the Labour Party policy document that we should have a co-ordinated transport system in Wales, by which, we were told, the roads and the railways would be integrated on a compact system basis. We were also told in that document that the Tories were dismantling the transport system of Wales and that many lines had been closed, and further closures were forecast.

We were also warned that whole communities in Wales were being deprived of their transport facilities. I well remember the protest marches against the rail closures in Wales. I also remember the Secretary of State himself leading a protest rally at the City Hall. On that occasion, the Welsh Dragon belched fire and fury—but where are the fire and fury today? I am afraid that they are doused to a flicker by the crocodile tears of the right hon. Gentleman and his hon. Friends.

What has happened in Wales since the Labour Government took office? Did Dr. Beeching go into reverse right away? Were the lines reopened, or was there a great increase in the transport facilities for the rural areas? Certainly not. They first of all took the very stupid action of sacking Dr. Beeching and then putting in his place his right-hand man, Mr. S. T. Raymond, who, of course, is carrying out the identical policies—though perhaps with a little less flair and imagination than the doctor—which Dr. Beeching proposed when he headed British Railways.

More recently, we read in the Press that the Government briefed Lord Hinton to carry out a close study of the integration of road and rail transport, but, as we all know, that report has been suppressed simply because it did not give the Government the answer which they wanted to find.

Instead of a speed-up of roads, which we were promised when Labour came to power, work on many of them has been retarded by six months. Despite what we have heard today, the fact remains that the only major roads at present under construction in Wales are those which were authorised by a Conservative Government.

Then there is the reference in the document to the need for more deep-water ports, to cope in particular with the large iron-ore ships, the oil tankers, and the huge bulk cargo carriers now being constructed in the world's shipyards. As a result of the discussions and the arguments which went on, Milford Haven emerged as the premier oil terminal of Wales, and, possibly, of Great Britain as a whole.

However, when it came to iron ore, the Government produced what can only be described as an inconclusive White Paper. I call it inconclusive not because Cardiff was not selected as the premier iron-ore port for South Wales—although, naturally, I regret that—but because, almost on the day that the White Paper was issued, Richard Thomas and Baldwins, the nationalised steel firm, changed its mind and declared that it would not have a jetty out into the Bristol Channel.

On the question of bulk cargo carriers and bulk cargo ports, the Minister of Transport is now faced with the necessity to make a decision whether to authorise the construction of nine deep-water berths at Portbury on the Somerset side of the Bristol Channel at a cost of £30 million, or to authorise double the number at half the cost by using the South Wales ports. We could provide 18 deep-water berths in the South Wales ports at a cost of £15 million.

I hope, therefore, that the Secretary of State will intervene in this matter and point out to his colleagues in the Cabinet the obvious advantages which the South Wales ports have in this respect.

I turn now to the subject of coal. I can see from the expressions of hon. Members opposite that this is a very sombre day for South Wales. Obviously, some of them have read the White Paper which has been issued this afternoon. Time and again in the past we were told of the need for a national fuel policy and how Labour would ensure that coal, gas, electricity and atomic power would all work together in the national interest, rather than be forced—so we were told—by narrow Tory financial considerations to pursue sectional policies.

It seems that those same narrow financial considerations apply to a Labour Government just as they did to a Conservative Government. We have seen in recent weeks the proposals for the unprecedented contraction of the coal industry in South Wales. Despite this, there has not been one murmur, not one word of protest from the right hon. Gentleman. I say, shame on him for this as an old worker in the coal mines of Wales.

I do not believe that it is generally realised that the percentage of unemployment in Wales has now reached the same level as that in Scotland. They both stand at 2·7 per cent., yet in the past, listening to lengthy debates on Scotland, we have always considered that Scotland was one of the worst black spots in the whole of the United Kingdom. Now we find that we are at level pegging with them for the first time ever.

Naturally, this is very encouraging for the people of Scotland. As a result of good Conservative policies, their percentage of unemployment has come down. However, I would suggest that it is a very disturbing trend for Wales to find that unemployment is creeping up. When we take into account that this trend does not include the forecast, estimated at anything from 10,000 to 15,000 miners—the B.B.C. forecast 18,000 the other day—to be redundant as a result of the policy expressed in the White Paper and in the National Plan, it is hardly surprising that the Government have seen fit to introduce panic measures to preserve their image in South Wales and to preserve their votes in the mining valleys of Wales. They will certainly need them when people read this White Paper, because it is a real shock—a one-and-threepenny shock. It refers to special funds which are needed to speed the closures. They are mentioned on page 9 of the White Paper, and Scotland, the North-East and South Wales are specifically mentioned.

Page 4 refers to transferring the burden of the National Coal Board's debt from the Board to the taxpayer. Page 5 refers to the fact that the price increase which was forecast for 1st September will still be required in the future. I suggest that it is bad for the miners, bad for the taxpayers and bad for the customers of the coal industry. There is no doubt that the coal industry today is an unmitigated disaster, and that it is evidence of Socialism coming home to roost at last.