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Mr. Evans: No, no. I did not mean that.
Mr. Llwyd: Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Mr. Evans: No, I cannot take an intervention. I meant the paucity of being able to get investment in jobs into some of the far-flung areas. I could say that in the case of depravity, those areas could not be represented by a finer Member of Parliament, but I shall not.
We need to ensure that all areas of Wales are able to access the opportunities for investment in jobs, whether in the manufacturing or service sector. We must ensure that everybody is able to take advantage of that.
I shall say something about the Liberal Democrats. Some people say, "What about them?" I say to them, "What about the Liberal Democrats?" We have heard the usual story today. They say, "We want to scrap the council tax," but they say hardly anything about the income tax that will replace it, which will damage people, particularly families with two workers. They then say, "We want to scrap tuition fees," but they say nothing about the graduate tax that will kick in, which will mean that people will pay for the education that they get. They say that they will scrap one tax, but they would introduce another.
People in Wales must wake up to the fact that there is nothing for nothing in society, particularly with the Liberal Democrats. We get what we pay for, and with the Liberal Democrats people would pay considerably more.
Huw Irranca-Davies : Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Mr. Evans:
No, I must end now.
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The general election will soon be here. We will all be going out to the hustings, probably within a couple of days. We hear the Labour party talking about going forward and not back. What does it do? It goes back to Campbell and to Mandelson, to get them back into the team for the general election. I think, and I believe that the people of Wales believe, that the time for spin is over. People know that their lives have not improved, that the public services have not improved and that they are paying higher taxes through the roof, whether stealth taxes or national insurance.
I believe that the people are thinking what we're thinking: "Bring on the election, Prime Minister. It is time for a change."
9.41 pm
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Wales (Mr. Don Touhig): We have a proud Welsh tradition of story telling, and it has certainly been in evidence today. We have heard some amazing stories and quite a few myths and fables during the debate.
My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State, in opening the debate, paid tribute to Lord Jim Callaghan, whose story was a lifetime of service to the people of Britain. It was a story of hope that started with the great reforming Government of Clem Attlee and Nye Bevan. Jim Callaghan's story included the nightmare of Thatcherism and the war that the Conservative party waged on working communities in Wales. I believe that Lord Callaghan would be deeply proud to hear the debate today and its story of Wales under a Labour Government, where opportunity extends to the many and not the few and families raise their children in hope and not in poverty and despair.
The story of Wales today is one of unprecedented prosperity and economic success never seen before. It is a Labour story. The Government, working in partnership with the Assembly, have provided the stability and the incentives that businesses in Wales need to grow. Under Labour, our companies have picked themselves up from the battering of the Tory years and Wales is now able to compete with the best in the world. We will never compete on low wages and unskilled sweat-shop labour, but we have changed and adapted and acquired new skills and abilities. As my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer said recently, there is no escape from change and no comfort in standing still. In our new Welsh economy there will be no complacency, no inflexibility, no resistance to change, no outmoded ways of working and no restrictive practices. Let businesses and workers in Wales remember that this Labour Government are prepared to take on any vested interest and to make any change that will take us forward in our aim of making Wales one of the most adaptable, skilled and enterprising economies on the planet. In doing that we come closer to our vision—to our goal—of full employment.
The economy of Wales is doing increasingly well. There are better-paid workers, increasing skills, increasing investment, increasing growth and increasing prosperity. This year, the minimum wage will rise to more than £5 for the first time, benefiting more than
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80,000 workers, two thirds of them women. It is the story of a well-run and exciting economy. It is matched by the story of an economy increasingly run with families and children not around the edges, but at its core. Under Labour, we have a Government who show mothers and fathers that we are listening to them and that we understand the challenges that they face as they juggle their business and work lives with their need to be home with their children and with child care and school provision.
Just as we believe in a better deal for families, we believe in a decent income and dignity for pensioners in their old age. We are matching our commitment with actions with the winter fuel allowance and extra payments now to help offset council tax increases. Thousands of pensioners in Wales have seen their guaranteed income rise by 50 per cent. since Labour came to power and ended the shameful Tory degradation of pensioners who were forced to live on £69 a week. It is not just the pensioners of today whose retirement has been protected by the Labour Government. Through the Pension Protection Fund and the retrospective financial assistance scheme, the Government are giving hope to workers at Allied Steel and Wire and Abingdon Carpets in my constituency, as well as thousands of others who have been robbed of their pensions by callous and irresponsible employers.
Wales today is a story of hope, opportunity and prosperity delivered by the Labour Government, but some of the stories that we have heard have been bizarre and ridiculous. If I were generous, I would say that the hon. Member for Leominster (Mr. Wiggin) entertained us, as he always does, doing his best in the absence of any Tory MPs with Welsh constituencies. It is just as well that he is getting in the practice, because if we have our way there will not be any Tory MPs in Wales after the next general election either. In all seriousness, however, as we approach the election there is a temptation to over-egg the pudding and exaggerate a little, but the hon. Gentleman's remarks on crime whipped up the fear of crime and were an inexcusably shameful performance. Are there no depths to which the Opposition will not plunge for a cheap headline?
When the Leader of the Opposition was Home Secretary, recorded violent crime rose by 19 per cent. and there was a 166 per cent. increase in overall recorded violent crime. Under the Tory Government, convictions fell by a third. The British crime survey shows that there has been a fall in violent crime of 26 per cent. since 1997 in England and Wales. Yes, there has been a rise in violent crime of 7 per cent. now, but that reflects continuing efforts to improve the recording process, as pointed out by my hon. Friend the Member for Newport, West (Paul Flynn). The plain fact is that since 1997, crime in England and Wales has fallen by 30 per cent., burglary is down by 42 per cent., and vehicle thefts are down by 40 per cent.
A number of hon. Members have mentioned the North Wales police. The posters and advertising by the Conservative party are shameful and have been condemned by the chief constable and other senior police officers as a disgrace. Under this Government, there are more than 850 extra police officers in Wales because we believe in providing that investment. The Conservative party, however, is not committed to that aim.
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The hon. Member for Leominster went on to refer to the national health service. I remind him that his hon. Friend the Member for Woodspring (Dr. Fox) said:
"We've got a problem in this country where the NHS and healthcare has been synonymous. We're here to break that."
The Leader of the Opposition said that the NHS was a "Stalinist creation". The Tories do not have any credibility on the issue of tackling MRSA. In government, they forced compulsory competitive tendering for cleaning contracts on to hospitals. The cheapest provider got to do the job. The Tories ran down hospitals and under-investment led to the problem that we face.
The plain fact is that £4.3 billion is now being spent on the health service in Wales. The budget for new buildings and hospital equipment has risen by £107 million. There are 350 more whole-time-equivalent consultants and 5,000 more qualified nurses in Wales. By 2010, the Assembly plans 700 more consultants and GPs, 6,000 more nurses and 2,000 other health professionals. We are putting right 18 years of under-investment, when the Tories closed 70 hospitals and cut training for nurses and midwives. The Labour Government will deliver improvements to the national health service.
The hon. Member for Leominster said that GCSE attainments were not as good as they were three years ago, and cited the Assembly targets. However, in August 2004 we had the best ever GCSE results in Wales, and the percentage of passes increased considerably. We are therefore making an important contribution.
My hon. Friend the Member for Clwyd, South (Mr. Jones) referred to the excellent work done by the Welsh Affairs Committee, which he chairs, and the reports that it has produced. He sought reassurance about the future of structural funds in Wales, and I can tell him that the Government believe that regional aid, including investment aid for large companies, remains an important tool in helping to raise economic performance in underperforming areas. The Government support the European Commission's underlying aims of less but better targeted state aid. At the same time, we consider that the state aid regime needs to be flexible, and member states must be able to tackle underperformance where it arises.
Like children at a pick-'n'-mix sweet stall, the Liberal Democrats produced their usual bag of delights in the debate today. We expect nothing less from a party of opportunists who say one thing in Wales and do another when they vote in the Lobby in the House of Commons. All their ideas are hastily put together, and none are costed. I noticed that they were rather quiet about their party's support for yobs, rather than for victims. They will have a job in the coming general election explaining to the people of Wales their plans to leave teenage criminals on our streets and give murderers a vote. That is the policy of the Liberal Democrats.
The hon. Member for Montgomeryshire (Lembit Öpik) spoke about the importance of the aerospace industry in Wales and about improved air links. I can tell him that the National Assembly supports intra-
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Wales air services and is looking to improve that as part of its Wales transport strategy. The Transport (Wales) Bill mentioned by my hon. Friend the Member for Conwy (Mrs. Williams) would allow the Assembly to arrange such public transport services, where they would not otherwise be provided.
The hon. Member for Montgomeryshire spoke about manufacturing, as did other hon. Members. Manufacturing remains subject to intense global pressures, but it still has a strong base in Wales with world-class companies like Airbus, Sharp, Sony, Ford, Cogent, Logica and DeepStream Technologies. Manufacturing continues to make a significant improvement in the Welsh economy, accounts for 21 per cent. of GVA and employs 70 per cent. of the work force in Wales.
Welsh exports are up 7.3 per cent. on the previous year. Confidence and activity have been backed by recent business surveys. February saw the 23rd successive month of growth and new business activity in Wales. That is because the Labour Government have put a strong and sound economy at the heart of all we are doing. Atraverda, a battery manufacturer at Abertillery, has created an extra 40 jobs. TTems, a Rogerstone electronics manufacturing company, has secured a £6 million contract to supply underwater sensors to the Ministry of Defence. BSW Timber in mid-Wales has invested £15 million in a sawmill, safeguarding 100 jobs and creating a further 24.
The hon. Gentleman teased us a little and spoke about the value of the Liberal Democrats when they were in partnership with Labour in the coalition in the Assembly. He went on to criticise the revaluation, and did so again a moment ago in an interjection. Again, the Liberal Democrats say one thing and do another. As part of the Administration in Cardiff, in the Cabinet, they supported the idea of revaluation in Wales. They must be straight with people. That is not what they said in the Chamber tonight.
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