Welsh Affairs

Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 9:08 pm on 28 February 1991.

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Photo of Mr Roy Hughes Mr Roy Hughes , Newport East 9:08, 28 February 1991

This debate takes place on the eve of the Welsh national day, when, traditionally, we take stock of the nation. The picture is not a happy one, and I did not recognise the Wales portrayed by the Secretary of State when he opened the debate.

Tomorrow, my hon. Friend the Member for Torfaen (Mr. Murphy) and I will be travelling to Paris to support the Welsh rugby team. Sadly, it has become something of a lost cause, but I believe that hope springs eternal in the human breast, and my fervent hope is that, at last, a revival is under way.

For me, there is a linkage—however indirect—between the torpor and malaise affecting our rugby team and the fact that, for nearly 12 years, Wales has been governed by an alien right-wing Conservative Administration. There are historical precedents for this. For example, in the inter-war years, which were a time of severe depression, there was a Conservative Administration throughout, and the performance of our team was equally abysmal. The drift north continued unabated—as it does today—due to the lack of job opportunities in Wales.

Compare that scenario with the glorious seventies, when a Labour Prime Minister, now Lord Callaghan, welcomed the Welsh team to No. 10 Downing street after three consecutive triple crown victories, and we went on to win a fourth triple crown. As I recall the occasion, Lord Callaghan had just met the American President but he said to the president of the Welsh rugby union, "You are the real president." In those days, players went on to the field prepared to die for Wales. Those players included Gareth Edwards, Barry John, J. P. R. Williams, Gerald Davis, supported by the redoubtable Pontypool front row and many more players of similar talent and ability. This weekend, I hope and trust that we shall have turned the corner, because a revival of our rugby fortune is badly needed to restore our country's morale.

For good or evil, Wales is an integral part of the United Kingdom. Accordingly, we have been afflicted by the poll tax which, according to official pronouncements, was to be the flagship of the third Thatcher Administration. In reality and practice, it has proved a nightmare—a disaster of the first order. Administratively it has been difficult, its collection has been equally difficult, and the subsidies to offset its worst effects have been enormous. The Secretary of State for Wales was closely associated with the poll tax, and I note that that well-known pirate, the right hon. Member for Cirencester and Tewkesbury (Mr. Ridley), is trying to climb on board to rescue the flagship and is threatening riots if he is not successful. Nevertheless, I believe that the flagship poll tax will soon be consigned to the deep and that the lament will be muted, to say the least.

The Welsh economy is an integral part of the United Kingdom economy. No man is an island, and we are part of the whole. We cannot live in splendid isolation, as the Secretary of State seemed to imply when he suggested, a week or two ago, that the recession is not really affecting Wales. He should tell that to the Hoover workers in Merthyr, the steel workers in Brymbo and the miners in south Wales, who have seen their industries virtually wiped out and all the damage that that causes to our communities. At the same time, imported coal is flooding into this country. Again, the Secretary of State is involved because he is a former coal miner and knows about such matters.

That old enemy of Wales, unemployment, is rearing its ugly head once again. The seasonally unadjusted figure rose to 101,452 on 10 January this year. For years, the official unemployment statistics have been synthetically disguised by part-time jobs for women, many of whom are forced to go out to work just to make ends meet. I have nothing against women working, but many do so because their husbands, the traditional breadwinners, have been forced out of work. People in their 50s and early 60s are no longer required to register as unemployed, and are not counted in the official statistics. Many of them are capable of and willing to do a fair day's work. According to many independent economic observers, unemployment is set to go up and up in the next year or so, which spells bad news for Wales.

Many of the economic indicators portray a dismal picture at present. The trading figures have shown an annual deficit of about £15 billion. Our poor competitive position is reckoned by many shrewed observers, to be directly due to poor training facilities that result in a shortage of skilled people. Yet the Government have now chosen to cut £500 million from the training budget in the next two years. We now know that, to disguise that fact, they are putting out little sweeteners. This week, the Secretary of State for Employment announced that he was putting £125 million back into the budget.

One of the victims of those savage cuts in training is a scheme like that one so vividly outlined by my hon. Friend the Member for Ogmore (Mr. Powell)—the CATO training scheme in Ogwr borough. I visited the scheme twice and appreciated the splendid work being done there to help youngsters, who otherwise would have had difficulty in getting into the labour market. The Government are pursuing a short-sighted policy.

Yesterday, interest rates came down 0·5 per cent., but they are still far too high, at 13 per cent. Repossession of homes goes on apace, as families are unable to meet their mortgage commitments. In industry and commerce, the bankruptcy figures are soaring. That is the reality in Wales and, indeed, in the whole of Britain at present.

Today, there is much concern about the environment, conservation and the preservation of our heritage—quite rightly so. But another important environmental issue lurks in my constituency—the application by an American waste disposal firm, Browning and Ferris, to build a plant in Corporation road in the Lliswerry district of Newport. There has been much concern about that proposal throughout the town and further afield. An action group has been formed and its meetings have been well attended. When I made representations to the Secretary of State, he said that it was a matter for the planning authorities in Newport to decide. In the event, the planning committee of Newport borough council decided unanimously to reject the proposal. Now the ball is firmly back in the Secretary of State's court, following an appeal by the company. He should reject this unwelcome proposal without further delay.

South Wales has already been plagued by the effects of waste disposal. There is the running sore of ReChem at Pontypool. There have also been incidents in nearby areas such as Caerleon, Curmcarn and Pontlottyn. South Wales is in danger of becoming the dustbin of Europe. It is time to call a halt.

The current assessment of Wales is a rather sad story.: There is little to gloat over. In his opening remarks, my hon. Friend the Member for Alyn and Deeside (Mr. Jones) gave a lucid exposition and pointed the way to the future under a Labour Government. I believe that, when the euphoria and flag-waving at the end of the Gulf war have subsided, the people of Wales and the rest of the country will realise the mess that we are in after nearly 12 years of Conservative Government. I am confident that, when the time comes, they will turn to a Labour Government to provide the solution to the country's ills.