Orders of the Day — Budget Resolutions and Economic Situation

Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 10:45 am on 4 July 1997.

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Photo of Stephen Hepburn Stephen Hepburn Labour, Jarrow 10:45, 4 July 1997

I welcome this welfare-to-work Budget, which places responsibilities on three specific areas: employers, individuals and the Government. The Government have taken the initiative in launching our welfare-to-work programme. With that in mind, I wish to raise two issues affecting my constituency: the future of the Benefits Agency in Jarrow and the future of the appeals venue in south Tyneside, which is very important to local people.

There is high dependency on benefit in my constituency—which is not the fault of this Government—a high incidence of disability and high unemployment. The people of Jarrow require the services of the Benefits Agency office. I have been informed that files have been removed from there and moved to a Sunderland office and that Benefit Agency officers are becoming increasingly reluctant to conduct home visits.

The appeals venue is extremely important to Jarrow and to south Tyneside. The area has a history of heavy industry, and many employees have suffered injuries at work and have disability problems. Those people must have ready access to an appeals venue. I ask the Minister to consider those issues and to provide an early response.

I congratulate the Chancellor on what the newspapers have described as a "people's Budget". I would go one step further and describe it as an ordinary people's Budget. It addresses the ordinary issues that affect the ordinary people whom we meet every day in our constituencies—the old, young, disabled and the unemployed. Those ordinary people have real interests in ordinary issues, such as jobs, education and health. I am pleased that the Budget will begin to address those matters.

The Labour party fought the general election on the issues of jobs, education and health, and we won an overwhelming mandate from the people to implement the policies that we outlined in our manifesto. I cannot understand why certain sectors of the community and certain individuals who should know better have criticised the Budget. We cannot solve overnight all the problems that have been caused over 18 years. This Budget is only the start. People should act responsibly and give the Government a little support. Ministers should not pretend that they will solve all the problems overnight. We should answer any criticisms by stating that, although it will take a long time to address the issues, at least we are moving in the right direction.

The Budget introduces job-creating measures for young people, who have been ignored for too long. I see youngsters in Jarrow hanging around on street corners: they have no hope and nothing to do. We hope to address their problems at the end of the day. I welcome the Government's renewed commitment to job creation—which is a radical change from the policy that prevailed for 18 years. As I said in my maiden speech, Jarrow has one of the highest levels of unemployment in the country, and youth unemployment is a particular problem. I know, of course, that it is a problem throughout the country.

Let us make no bones about it: the windfall tax is right. I am surprised that the hon. Member for Roxburgh and Berwickshire (Mr. Kirkwood) says that it is wrong. In the past, he has expressed some sound views on benefits. I have listened to his views over the years on welfare issues and have respected them.

Before I came to the House, I was the chair of a superannuation or pension fund—it was a £1 billion fund—for about six or seven years. The issue of a windfall tax was well and truly dealt with by fund managers in the City. They said that there would be no problem with a one-off windfall tax. I would assume that the fund received good advice. It was a substantial fund and it paid for good advice. At the end of the day, fund managers rely on success in the City and on the stock market if they are to keep their jobs.

It is right that there should be a one-off sum of £5 billion. It will be used to help deal with the problems of ordinary people. It must be understood that people were outraged by privatisations. Ordinary people knew that they were rip-offs. That is a fact that could not be hidden from ordinary folk. They became furious when they learnt of the salaries that directors were drawing following privatisations, along with share options. The one-off £5 billion is a victory for the ordinary person, whom we claim to represent. It is just retribution for what went on in the past. It is right that the money should be used to help deal with the problems of the unemployed.

What sort of people will be helped by the £5 billion? In Jarrow, over 500 young people under the age of 25 have been on benefits for more than six months. That is an indictment on the previous Government. Young people have been cast aside and they have had to live in the absence of hope. The Government are now addressing the problem.

If an individual shows us no respect, we in turn will have no respect for him. That applies to young people. If society shows young people no respect, young people will show no respect in return. We are seeing a breakdown in the social order—it has taken the form of riots in various places, but thankfully not in my constituency—because respect has not been shown. Society has not shown respect and no respect has been shown by those on the receiving end.

I urge employers to take part in the welfare-to-work programme. They have a major role to play. I hope that they will accept their responsibilities towards young people and work with the Government to bring about employment opportunities.

I hope that I shall be forgiven for plugging my constituency, but if any company wants to expand or relocate, it should be aware that Jarrow is a real place that has a real asset in its young people. I say that sincerely. Jarrow has some of the highest unemployment figures in the country, but there has not been the social breakdown that has afflicted other areas, where there have been riots. That is because there is a community spirit in Jarrow, which goes back many years. Community spirit has produced built-in discipline. There is the great institution of the family, and the family keep young people in control. Sadly, that social cohesion has been strained over the years because of unemployment. I hope that we can do something for the young people of Jarrow.

I make no apology for making a plea for young people, whose views are not often taken into account. It would do some right hon. and hon. Members a great deal of good to listen to the views of young people and to talk to them. In spite of the hardship that they have faced over the years, they are an extremely tolerant bunch of people. I hope that I have taken on board the tolerance that they have shown over the years. We can learn something from them and, I hope, deliver some programmes for them.

The Budget demonstrates a commitment to young people and a change of direction towards a more tolerant society. That can be only for the good. There must be tolerance towards minorities and women, for example. We must be tolerant also of single parents. There are more than 2,000 single parents in my constituency, and for too long they and others have been treated as second-class citizens. I am talking of decent people. All they want is a chance in life and a decent life for their families. It is our job to try to do something for them.

For too long, there has been the myth that young girls become pregnant so that they might have the privilege of getting a council house. That is nonsense. It is said that young girls get pregnant so that they can get a few extra bob in benefit every week. That is absolute nonsense. It is about time that we moved away from that philosophy and tried to help single parents achieve their aspirations.

I am pleased that we shall be offering advice, training and child care to enable young parents to leave their homes and gain employment. In many instances, their homes are cells because they are stuck in them throughout the day and night with young children. They need some relief along with financial independence, so that they might live their lives with some dignity.

I thank the House for listening to me, especially to my views on Jarrow. I am sure that what I have said about my constituency could be said of many other constituencies throughout the country. I am sure also that everyone in the House has the same aim of trying to do something for our young people. There will, of course, be different views on how the issue should be approached. I believe that the Labour party has the right policy, as set out in the Budget. I look forward to working with my colleagues on this and future Budgets, so that we might implement our policies.