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Welsh Affairs

As someone said of the effects of the French revolution, ““It is too early to say.”” That is all I wish to say at the moment. It is absolutely certain that our primary scrutiny role will be of UK Government Departments and their impact on Wales. That will be paramount to us and will continue to be so while I chair the Committee. Our work in recent years on prisons, defence, police, globalisation and—under the wise chairmanship of my hon. Friend the Member for Clwyd, South (Mr. Jones)—on manufacturing and trade and on young people is testimony to the effectiveness of the work of the Committee. I thank Committee members, past and present, for that. I am certain, too, that the forthcoming inquiry on cross-border issues will be of great value to the people of Wales. I pay tribute to my hon. Friend the Member for Wrexham (Ian Lucas) and others for raising the matter with us. There is considerable interest in the forthcoming inquiry that begins on Tuesday, an interest that crosses the border. Many people in England as well as Wales are keenly looking forward to the inquiry. I ask hon. Members to consider just one aspect of the inquiry—health—and the number of policy issues that probably we will examine: different policy and performance management regimes and targets, different payment systems, prescription charges or the lack of them, resource allocation, differing attitudes to foundation hospitals. The list is endless. In that respect, the landmark agreement on 5 March between the Welsh Assembly and the west midlands, which deals with a range of public services, is welcome. The dual challenge involves ensuring, first, that policies are not only different, but result in better services, and, secondly, coherence across the border through partnership in, for example, a national health service that seeks to achieve fairness and equality for everyone throughout the United Kingdom. Solutions that do not have that wider vision and that do not look beyond our borders are doomed to failure. During our globalisation inquiry, it was evident that the challenges posed by economic inactivity, which has been mentioned, fuel poverty, skills enhancement, university research funding, carers' rights, combating xenophobia and racism, migrant labour and—this is the most important matter—war and peace cannot be addressed by Wales-only solutions. Many of us recently met young people from youth groups all over Wales and from ysgol gyfun Rhydywaun in the Cynon valley at Westminster. They made it clear that they inhabit global Wales rather than fortress Wales, and I felt that they are already good and active citizens of Wales, the United Kingdom and the world. Sara Pickard from Mencap Cymru has thrown down a challenge to Welsh MPs. My hon. Friend the Member for Wrexham was present and listening attentively when she asked that question, which I will repeat today: what are Welsh MPs doing to help young people with learning difficulties obtain employment opportunities? Sara obviously feels that we must all work in partnership to support the vulnerable and marginalised in our society in order to provide a voice for them and to achieve justice.