Welsh Affairs

Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 2:37 pm on 25 February 2010.

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Photo of Stephen Crabb Stephen Crabb Opposition Whip (Commons) 2:37, 25 February 2010

The hon. Gentleman makes an important point, as ever. This Government are so desperate to cling on to this bogus narrative that a re-elected Labour Government would mean continued spending and investment and that a Tory Government would mean savage and irresponsible cuts. That narrative is just not credible for two reasons. The first is that every serious commentator and analyst who examines the state of the public finances knows that cuts across the board will need to be made in the next few years-those cuts will be very severe for some Departments and will have a direct knock-on effect in Wales.

I shall now speak slightly parochially as the Member for Preseli Pembrokeshire, because the second reason why this message from the Government is not credible is because constituencies such as mine in rural west Wales have been living with Labour's cuts for the past 10 years. We know what cuts look like because we have been living with public service cuts.