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T H EP A R L I A M E N T A R Y D E B A T E S
OFFICIAL REPORT
IN THE FIRST SESSION OF THE FIFTY-FIRST PARLIAMENT OF THE UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN AND NORTHERN IRELAND
[WHICH OPENED 27 APRIL 1992]
FORTY-SECOND YEAR OF THE REIGN OF
HER MAJESTY QUEEN ELIZABETH II
SIXTH SERIES VOLUME 229
TWENTY-THIRD VOLUME OF SESSION 1992-93
House of Commons
Monday 19 July 1993
The House met at half-past Two o'clock
PRAYERS
[ Madam Speaker-- in the Chair ]
Oral Answers to Questions
WALES
Rural Post Offices
1. Mr. Martyn Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many representations he has received on the subject of rural post offices since 1 May ; and if he will make a statement.
The Minister of State, Welsh Office (Sir Wyn Roberts) : Seventeen such representations have been received, including a petition with 1, 098 signatures.
Mr. Jones : I thank the Minister for that reply. I am not surprised that he received so many representations in one month. I have received 10,000 responses that have been directed at the Secretary of State for Social Security, to whom most reponses would be directed. Will the Minister talke to his right hon. Friend and ensure that the Secretary of State does not reduce payments through the Post Office but actively encourages those payments, because the Minister and the Secretary of State for Wales have held their posts long enough to know that post offices are essential to rural areas in my constituency and those of other hon. Members in Wales?
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Sir Wyn Roberts : The hon. Gentleman will be aware that my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister gave an assurance on 18 May that pensioners and other beneficiaries may continute to collect their benefit from a post office if that is their preference. That was confirmed the following day by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Social Security, who explained during a debate on the matter that the new forms would make it clear that beneficiaries could collect their benefits from post offices.
Mr. Jacques Arnold : Did not the question arise from the trial carried out by the Department of Social Security to see whether beneficiaries required to be paid through vouchers or credit to account? Is it not the case that the Department received an unequivocal answer from social security beneficiaries and that Conservative Members, who represent the overwhelming majority of rural areas, would have said the same in the first place?
Sir Wyn Roberts : My hon. Friend will be aware that that matter concerns my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Social Security. It is high time that we nailed that canard about automated credit transfer being compulsorily required.
Mr. Hain : Surely the Government must concede that they are still pressing ACT through, although perhaps not by compulsory measures. That will threaten well over half the rural post offices in Wales. Does the Minister agree that, unless the Government provide alternative work for those sub-post offices that depend on benefit claimants as a lifeline for their business, his assurances are worthless?
Sir Wyn Roberts : Government business through the Post Office has increased in recent years. My right hon. Friends and I have said that ACT is not compulsory and that the choice whether to receive payments through a post office or through a bank or building society remains with the beneficiary.
Mr. Dafis : Is the Minister aware that the possibility that the Monopolies and Mergers Commission will allow newspapers to be distributed through supermarkets is another threat that is looming on the horizon for small post offices and shops? That might provide a short-term
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improvement in the availability of newspapers, but the long-term effect would be damaging. Does the Minister agree that that would be a further blow to the shops and post offices that are essential to the community and the quality of life in rural areas?Sir Wyn Roberts : The Government are committed to maintaining a national network of post offices and that, of course, includes rural post offices. That does not mean to say, however, that some rural post offices may not be closed for business reasons. That is a matter for Post Office Counters Ltd.
Single-parent Families
2. Mr. Thurnham : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what representations he has received about the cost to public funds of supporting single-family families in Wales : and if he will make a statement.
8. Mrs. Gorman : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what is the number of lone parents in Wales.
The Secretary of State for Wales (Mr. John Redwood) : I have had several hundred letters and messages, overwhelmingly in support of what I said--especially about teenage pregnancies.
Mr. Thurnham : I congratulate my right hon. Friend. Has he seen the memorandum addressed to him on page 12 of today's edition of The Times ? Does he agree that grandparents are not without some responsibility for the children of teenage single parents, as is the case in the United States, Italy, Germany and, I understand, France? Will he ask the Child Support Agency to extend its interest to include grandparents as well as parents?
Mr. Redwood : My hon. Friend makes a valuable point. I hope that all hon. Members will agree that, wherever possible, all members of the family should help if a young lady is pregnant and in need of support from parents or others. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Social Security is reviewing the matter and I am sure that he, too, will look carefully at what my hon. Friend said today. I hope that the Labour Members will take this opportunity to put it on record that they, too, would like to do something about teenage pregnancies--and especially for schoolgirls--and echo my comments that, wherever possible, we should encourage people to settle down and gain a little more experience before having babies.
Several hon. Members rose --
Madam Speaker : Order. As I understand it, Question 2 is linked with Question 8. Is that correct? The Secretary of State did not announce that that was the case.
Mr. Redwood : If you would like me to do so, Madam Speaker, I should be happy to link the two questions.
Madam Speaker : I understand from the right hon. Gentleman's Department that the two questions are linked.
Mrs. Gorman : My right hon. Friend will be pleased to know that I have taken the trouble to read the remarks from his recent speech in Wales which have been so widely reported. Does he accept that I entirely agree with the gist
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of his remarks, which was that the fathers of such children should be made responsible for them? Does he agree, however, that less than 15 per cent. of single-parent families were single-parent families when the births were registered, and that most single mothers were cohabiting when the children were born or they are widowed or divorced women who are bringing up children on their own? Does my right hon. Friend further agree that we should reform the provisions of the welfare state that allow fathers to walk away from their responsibilities, rather than create a witch hunt surrounding young women who are made pregnant by young men with no sense of responsibility for what they are doing?Mr. Redwood : I agree with my hon. Friend that the intention of Government policy is to pursue the fathers where possible and to ask them to make a contribution. We think that they should make a financial contribution. We should like them to make other kinds of contributions to family life, but that will not always be possible. My hon. Friend asked how many single parents there were in Wales. The answer is 68,000, and I confirm that not all of them are the teenage parents on whom my hon. Friend and I primarily concentrated our remarks.
Mr. Hanson : Does the Secretary of State accept that his comments on single mothers have caused great offence throughout Wales and that, on reflection, he would have done better to spend his time in Cardiff talking about other matters? Will he take it from me that single mothers especially are often the victims of the effects of 14 years of Tory Government-- homelessness, unemployment, poor quality of life and poverty? It would be far better if the right hon. Gentleman targeted the issues rather than single mothers.
Mr. Redwood : If the hon. Gentleman does not understand the connection between the points that I am making and the problems in which he claims to be interested, he ought to go back to the drawing board. His remarks are not surprising, coming as they do from a member of the nowhere party. Labour Members do not know what their view is on anything ; they do not seem to have a view on single parenthood and what should be done to encourage people to have children in wedlock, after stable relationships have been formed. That is an important contribution to the social debate, and I hope that the hon. Gentleman will soon learn why it is important.
Mr. Donald Anderson : The Secretary of State did, indeed, address a serious problem ; clearly, resentment exists on estates about alleged queue jumping. But, on more mature reflection, does not he think that he might have shown a little more compassion in his speech? If he wants to crusade, should not he crusade against the conditions and the environment on many of our estates, rather than against people who are the victims of those conditions?
Mr. Redwood : Perhaps the hon. Gentleman does not know that I went to the estate in question to look at the conditions there. I promised people on the estate that if they came forward with sensible plans for improvement, I would view them with a kindly eye and see whether we could help. Of course I want to attack rotten conditions on housing estates ; but I also want to open a bigger debate on
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social conditions generally, because it is not just the Government but people--grandparents, parents and the whole of society--who should contribute to improvements.Mr. Jonathan Evans : Is my right hon. Friend aware that the views of the hon. Member for Delyn (Mr. Hanson) are not shared by the hon. and learned Member for Montgomery (Mr. Carlile), who sadly is not present, and who welcomed the remarks made by my right hon. Friend ? Does my right hon. Friend agree with the point made by the hon. Member for Swansea, East (Mr. Anderson) that there is resentment over social housing allocation policy? If we are to address that issue, we must consider the needs of single parents ; but ultimately, we need more social housing. May I therefore direct my right hon. Friend's attention to that issue? I urge him to announce further housing for those who are socially disadvantaged and who will never be able to afford to become home owners, unlike so many people in Wales.
Mr. Redwood : My hon. Friend makes an important point. I am pleased to announce that 487 dwellings, which are currently empty and not being used in the public estate, are to be brought forward for rent and sale from the NHS estate. I hope that will be widely welcomed in the House.
My hon. Friend is right, as was the hon. Member for Swansea, East, in thinking that there are difficult issues of allocation for councils to consider, because we wish to encourage people to settle down in stable relationships and marriages before they have children.
Mrs. Clwyd : Will the Secretary of State now acknowledge that his attack on single mothers was ill-judged and vindictive? Does not he realise that 70 per cent. of single parents are widowed, separated or divorced? Is he aware that 90 per cent. of single parents want a job and that the problem is not just the lack of jobs but the pathetic inadequacy of the child care system? Can he explain why one in four health authority family planning clinics has been shut and the Government have refused to insist on sex education as part of the school curriculum? Why does not he use a bit of common sense instead of crude scapegoating?
Mr. Redwood : Once again, the nowhere party has not listened to what I have said and is not interested in the debate. I have always made it clear that when relationships have broken down, someone has died or a partnership has been forced apart, for reasons beyond the control of any individual, I am, of course, extremely sympathetic. That was not the issue that I was opening up in my speech. I was opening up the case of teenage pregnancies where there was no intention of the father playing a proper role in the family or trying to do so. I still wish to know whether the Labour party approves or disapproves of that.
Welsh Language Education
3. Mr. Ian Bruce : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what proportion of Welsh school children are taught using Welsh as their first language ; and what assessment his Department has made on the progress of such children into further and higher education relative to those using English as their first language.
Sir Wyn Roberts : Welsh was the sole or main medium of instruction for 16 per cent. of primary school pupils in
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September 1991, and 15.8 per cent. of secondary pupils in Wales were attending a Welsh-speaking secondary school, as defined by the Education Reform Act 1988. Provisional analyses of the information for the 1991-92 school year shows that 33 per cent. of pupils from Welsh-speaking schools went on to further or higher education. That compares with 30 per cent. of pupils from all local education authority and grant-maintained schools in Wales.Mr. Bruce : I am sure that my right hon. Friend would agree that that shows that the Government's policy of keeping Welsh a living language has been extremely successful. What effect does he think that Labour's failure to support the Welsh Language Bill--and, indeed, the fact that Plaid Cymru has voted against it--will have on our excellent policy?
Sir Wyn Roberts : My hon. Friend will be interested to learn that all the progress in Welsh-medium education has resulted from the Education Act 1944. We sought to improve matters further through the Welsh Language Bill, which represents a considerable advance for Welsh speakers and will mean that guidelines will be prepared by the Welsh Language Board, under which local education authorities will state what provision they are making for Welsh medium education.
Mr. Rogers : At some time in his busy schedule, will the Minister take time to instruct his stool pigeons who are brought forward to ask questions--
Madam Speaker : Order. I consider that somewhat unparliamentary language, and I would be glad if the hon. Gentleman would withdraw his comment. If he is going to put a question, will he do so?
Mr. Rogers : I withdraw the remark, Madam Speaker.
Will the Minister of State instruct those whom he has brought into the Chamber to fill up Question Time in the basic knowledge relating to the Welsh language? Perhaps he will tell the hon. Member for South Dorset (Mr. Bruce), who has crept into the Chamber and begun criticising Labour's policies on Welsh, that if it were not for the Labour party--particularly Labour-controlled authorities in south Wales--there would be no Welsh language in the form in which we are discussing it? Will the Minister also ask the hon. Member for South Dorset--whom he has dragged in to act for him this afternoon--to recognise that the outstanding results announced today follow the excellent work done to support the Welsh language in south Wales?
Sir Wyn Roberts : If the hon. Gentleman's party has some responsibility for the success of the Welsh language, is not it curious that it did not support the Third Reading of the Welsh Language Bill? As for the hon. Gentleman's comments about my hon. Friends, I note that some hon. Members representing parts of the United Kingdom other than Wales are present on the Opposition Benches. Perhaps Welsh Opposition Members should table rather more questions ; then they might have the same luck as my hon. Friend the Member for South Dorset.
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Defence Procurement
4. Mr. Fabricant : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make a statement on the effect of defence procurement on Welsh industry.
Mr. Redwood : It was estimated in 1991 that defence procurement accounted for some 4,000 jobs, or 2 per cent. of manufacturing, in Wales.
Mr. Fabricant : Has my right hon. Friend made any assessment of the effect on defence procurement jobs that would have resulted had the Labour party--the "caring party"--been elected at the last general election?
Mr. Redwood : It was estimated at the time of the last general election--I do not believe that the Labour party has ever withdrawn the policies involved--that 115,000 jobs in defence-related industries would have been wiped out in the United Kingdom, to say nothing of the jobs lost in the Army, Navy and Air Force. We can truly say that, when it comes to jobs in Wales, the Opposition are the demolition men ; we are standing up for Wales and winning new jobs for it.
Mr. Roy Hughes : Does the Secretary of State appreciate that all Opposition Members welcome defence cuts? We also recognise, however, that they have a tendency to put people out of work. The truth is that the Government have not succeeded in turning swords into ploughshares. What is more, market forces will not cure the evil ; we need active intervention by the Government.
Mr. Redwood : I am sad to learn that the hon. Gentleman welcomes job losses. As for his second point, he is entirely wrong : we are taking steps to try to encourage companies to diversify. We are keen to diversify both the Welsh industrial base and the product ranges of individual companies. A Ministry of Defence secondee is currently helping the Welsh Development Agency with that important task. However, we also want the country to be well defended--and that is better news for jobs than it would be under Labour.
Mr. John Marshall : Will my right hon. Friend confirm that Wales is part of the United Kingdom's defence export industry, which creates thousands of jobs across this country? Those jobs would be destroyed if we listened to the Labour party. Does my right hon. Friend really believe that Government intervention could help, when histori-cally it has proved very expensive and has ended up destroying jobs in many once fine companies, such as British Shipbuilders and Rover?
Mr. Redwood : My hon. Friend is right : defence exports are important to Wales, as they are to the rest of the United Kingdom. Having sound defences here provides a platform from which we can export suitable products.
Mr. Wigley : Is the Secretary of State aware that, over the past 10 years, 50 per cent. of the defence procurement budget has been spent in south-east England and an average of 2 per cent. in Wales? If cuts are made in Welsh military and defence establishments, will the right hon. Gentleman try to secure more investment expenditure from that budget? What is his policy in that regard?
Mr. Redwood : Of course we will try to encourage Welsh companies to respond to procurement opportunities through the offer of support available from Ministry of
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Defence expertise, the Welsh Development Agency and elsewhere. I will battle for more jobs for Wales over the months and years ahead, in the way that I have been doing since I was appointed.Mr. Murphy : Bearing in mind that many thousands of Welsh people who work in defence-related industries, including the royal ordnance factory in Glascoed in Gwent, depend very heavily on contracts from the MOD, does the Secretary of State agree that British forces should buy and use British equipment?
Mr. Redwood : Wherever possible, that is desirable. We also have to think about European Community procurement rules and value for money. I want British companies to do well, to win the competitions and supply the goods. I will not be shy in arguing for British success.
Coronary Heart Disease
5. Mr. Simon Coombs : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what was the incidence of premature coronary heart disease in Wales in 1980 and in the latest year for which information is available ; and if he will make a statement.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Wales (Mr. Gwilym Jones) : There were 4,052 deaths of Welsh residents under the age of75 from coronary heart disease in 1992, compared with 5,676 deaths in 1980.
Mr. Coombs : I am sure that the whole House will approve the substantial improvement in the health of the Welsh people that those figures represent. Does my hon. Friend agree that there is a very strong correlation between premature coronary heart disease and diet? Does he further agree that there is a link between people's eating habits and what they are taught at school? If he does agree, will he make representations, as the Minister responsible for the health of the Welsh people, to the Department for Education about the place of home economics in the core curriculum to ensure that schoolchildren in Wales are taught diet and nutrition as part of that curriculum?
Mr. Jones : I am grateful for the welcome that my hon. Friend gave those figures. The work of health promotion in schools is already being undertaken by the Health Promotion Authority in Wales. I was in Rhondda on Friday, visiting one of the life education centres, and I saw how effective the authority is at promoting healthy living messages to schoolchildren, including the importance of balanced diets.
Mr. Llew Smith : Does the Minister accept that there is a link between not only heart disease and diet but heart disease and poverty?
Mr. Jones : We acknowledge the range of factors that are combating the fight against coronary heart disease, as we do other efforts to try to meet health-gain goals throughout Wales. A range of other measures has to be taken into account, including balanced diet, more regular exercise and anti-smoking campaigns. If the hon. Gentleman had studied closely the figures that we have set and our goals, he would know that in Wales, according to various health indicators, we have started from a low base and we have to reach a higher attainment level. We have set ourselves a target of a 33 per cent. reduction in premature death from cardiovascular disease over the next 10 years.
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Mr. Morgan : The level of premature heart disease is still very high in Wales. Open-heart surgery was invented in Wales, where Sir Magdi Yacoub carried out much of his earlier training before moving to Harefield. In January 1984, nine and a half years ago, the then Secretary of State for Wales, now Lord Crickhowell, made a promise to increase the number of open- heart operations in Wales from 500 to more than 1,100 a year. That promise has probably got whiskers on it, as the number of operations has not yet reached 600--indeed, it is so prehistoric that a dinosaur movie called "Thoracic Park" could be made about it.
Mr. Jones : I thought that it was a representative of "Jurassic Park" posing that question. The hon. Gentleman clearly does not listen. If he had taken any opportunity to study this important matter, he would know that we have undertaken a £500 million expansion programme to increase to 800 the number of heart operations in the University hospital of Wales. Only four weeks ago, I announced from the Dispatch Box the go-ahead for a second cardiac centre at Morriston in Swansea to take the number up to 1,400.
West Wales Task Force
6. Mr. Ainger : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales when he will convene a meeting of the strategy group of the West Wales task force.
Mr. Gwilym Jones : The next meeting of the strategy group will he held in the autumn on a date yet to be decided.
Mr. Ainger : Is the Minister aware that that answer is totally unsatisfactory? The last time the strategy group of the task force met was on 25 January, when the former Secretary of State for Wales, now the Secretary of State for Employment, assured the group that the new director would be in place as soon as possible, funded by the Welsh Development Agency. Is he also aware that, on 28 April, the right hon. Gentleman assured business men in my constituency that the director would be appointed in May? There is still no director for the task force. What is the Minister going to do about it?
Mr. Jones : The question of the director for the task force is being urgently considered by that task force and all the other local authorities involved. It was appropriate for them to have an input concerning the sort of director that they wanted. There is no lack of activity, however, regarding implementation of the important objectives of the task force. This year, we committed £2.5 million under the rural initiative ; £250,000 under the LEADER scheme ; and £3.7 million to upgrade rural and urban development activities.
Unemployment
7. Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what new proposals he has to reduce unemployment levels.
Mr. Redwood : We intend to reduce unemployment by continuing our successful economic policies of low interest rates, a very competitive economy, low inflation, good road and rail links, good training and encouraging and promoting investment.
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Mr. Flynn : What is the Secretary of State's reaction to the figures that I sent him which show that, according to a new methodology used by the House of Commons Library, the unemployment percentage in Newport, West is the joint highest in Wales? What is his reaction to the fact that, last year, Newport, West witnessed the second-largest increase in unemployment in any Welsh constituency? In those circumstances, how can the Government or anyone else contemplate taking away assisted area status from Newport? Will he give an unequivocal answer this afternoon that that will not happen and that he is virgorously opposing that insane suggestion?
Mr. Redwood : The hon. Gentleman will have to contain himself a little longer. As soon as the European Community has completed its review of the Government's proposals, my right hon. Friend the President of the Board of Trade will present them to the House. I hope that that will happen soon. The hon. Gentleman should wait and see the outcome. The hon. Gentleman can be assured that I have, of course, argued a vigorous case for Wales, as he would expect me to do.
Why does not the hon. Gentleman welcome the fact that, since 1986, long- term unemployment in Wales has fallen by 40 per cent? Why does not he welcome the fact that the Welsh unemployment rate is below the United Kingdom average? Why does not he welcome the fact that it appears that the United Kingdom average has now fallen beneath the EC average? All that is good news and I hope that the hon. Gentleman will get behind it.
Mr. Sweeney : Does my right hon. Friend agree that the policies of low inflation, low interest rates and a stable work force, which have been pursued by our Government, are the right prescription? Is not it time that the Opposition recognised that and supported the Government rather than carped and moaned about unemployment?
Mr. Redwood : I agree that those are the right policies. My hon. Friend might like to know that, at noon today, an order was announced for 4 million new telephones worth £50 million. That is good news for jobs in Cwmcarn in Gwent where those telephones will be manufactured.
Mr. Kinnock : I particularly welcome that last piece of good news and the efforts undertaken by the Welsh Office to encourage further orders for the Abercarn plant. Confidence in that plant is well established and it is wise to build on it. Is the Secretary of State aware, however, that, in the past year, the pharmaceutical industries of Wales have lost more than 500 jobs? Since 1985, because of the Government's introduction of the limited list for drugs for national health service prescriptions, pharmaceutical manufacturers have moved their development and production facilities elsewhere, which has meant, of course, that jobs have gone elsewhere.
In the interests of the health of patients and the health of the economy, will the right hon. Gentleman use all possible offices to persuade the Government to review that limited list policy so that we create a much stronger domestic base for our pharmaceutical industry and thereby help the health of the nation and the health of the economy?
Mr. Redwood : I am grateful to the right hon. Gentleman for his first remarks. I will look further at the 100-58J
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issues of pharmaceutical investment and job transfers from Wales, which were raised in a previous Question Time. I have asked for a review of the position. I am happy to meet the interested pharmaceutical companies to see whether there is anything that the Government can do to improve the climate further so that companies stay in Wales and invest there.Mr. Richards : Is my right hon. Friend aware that vacancies are appearing for chairmen of companies in Wales, one of which was recently snapped up by that champion of lost causes, the hon. Member for Caerphilly (Mr. Davies), although I do not recall the job being advertised? Does he agree that that may be the first sign that the Opposition are about to change their shadow Secretary of State and, possibly, have their fifth shadow Secretary of State before Christmas? Four of the shadow Secretary of State's predecessors are sitting on the Opposition Back Benches this afternoon.
Mr. Redwood : My hon. Friend makes his point extremely well. I can reassure him that, if that happened, it would not lead to an increase in unemployment, because no doubt there would be a replacement for the person going.
Mr. Barry Jones : British Aerospace at the Broughton works in my constituency has announced 250 redundancies, which would bring the total number of job losses at that great plane-making plant to more than 1,000 in just over one year. Why must such highly skilled, loyal, able and very productive plane makers lose their jobs in that way? It appears to me that the Government and the Cabinet have no strategy for Britain's manufacturing industries. Does the Secretary of State agree that, if the Government's policy continues as it appears to be doing, the United Kingdom will be denuded of a manufacturing base? What will he do to assist the plane-makers at Broughton, who are losing patience at the bleeding away of their jobs after doing everything that they have been asked to do for many years? They are the best, most loyal, most skilled and productive workers, so what will the Government do to assist them?
Mr. Redwood : A productivity miracle is under way in this country-- production is more than 10 per cent. up on the figures for the past year. It is desperately important that, as productivity rises that quickly--and we want it to--enough orders are won so that jobs are not lost and people can make many more products at the much better unit costs that have been established. I shall look at any proposition that the hon. Gentleman cares to put to me about the tragic situation in his constituency, because I do not like to see those job losses any more than he does. The problem is connected with cutting costs, which will mean that the company is more competitive in the future, and is obviously related to the demand for the planes. If there are ways in which the Government can help to promote more sales of planes--that is the only way to get these jobs--I am happy to do whatever is necessary and legal.
Mr. Hawkins : My right hon. Friend will probably not be aware that, in some cases, what is good news for reducing unemployment in Wales may be bad news for other parts of the country. He may not yet be aware that, in my constituency, Burtons Biscuits, which is a subsidiary of Associated British Foods, has a factory that has announced up to 600 redundancies, whereas it hopes to
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increase production at its factory in Llantarman in Wales. Will my right hon. Friend join me in doing all that he can to ensure that any of my constituents who work at the factory and wish to take up vacancies at Llantarman are able to? Will he work with his right hon. Friends in other Departments to try to change the mind of the company so that it reduces or withdraws the redundancies in my constituency?Mr. Redwood : I am happy to look at my hon. Friend's suggestion about the transfer of workers. However, there will be times when rationalisation is needed to make a business competitive. Again, the best answer is to get out there and sell more of the underlying products so that we can have more jobs overall. It is a fearfully competitive world and unfortunately it is necessary for British manufacturing to continue to lower its costs and make improvements in its processes, or there will be no jobs at all in manufacturing. That is the essential first step to grow a bigger manufacturing base.
Mr. John D. Taylor : I welcome the priority given by the Secretary of State to reduced interest rates to support the economy of Wales. Does he agree that that has come about through the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the exchange rate mechanism?
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