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Welsh Affairs

Aneurin Bevan stood up in this Chamber on 17 October 1944, in the first ever Welsh day debate, and being a great socialist and internationalist, he declared that there are no Welsh problems, there are only problems. He was right. Speaking of the coal industry, which then employed tens of thousands of people throughout Wales, he said that there was"““no special Welsh solution for the Welsh coal industry which is not the solution for the whole mining industry of Great Britain””—[Official Report, 17 October 1944; Vol. 403, c. 2312.]" and again, he was right. Of course there are differences between Wales and the rest of Great Britain, especially on the rugby field. We showed that at Twickenham and Murrayfield. The fact is that we are simply the best. However, those minor differences pale into insignificance when we look at what we share in common with the rest of the Union. In Wales, we face many challenges to improve our economy, educational opportunities, health care and transport, but those are not peculiarly Welsh issues requiring a Welsh-only solution. Only last Friday in this House, we took the historic step of giving Second Reading to a Bill that would secure equal treatment for agency workers. If that Bill gains Royal Assent and becomes law, it will address a scandal that exists throughout Britain. It will benefit the whole of Britain, and Wales as part of Britain. It is false and pernicious to try to portray the interests of the Welsh people as different from the interests of English people, the Scots or the Irish. Many of the issues that we face are the same. Let us be proud of our Welsh culture, identity and language—proud, as I was today when the children from Ysgol Gymraeg Cwm Gwyddon in my constituency sang at the St David's day service here in Parliament. However, in this second month of the new year, let us beware of the danger confronting us: the danger of entering a political cul-de-sac. The temptation is there to spend endless wasted hours on constitutional debate. The chattering classes, the crachach, who believe that they know best for Wales, swoon at the prospect of more powers for the National Assembly. Many in the media think that more powers for Cardiff is the story of the decade—tosh, rubbish. The real people of Wales, the werin, have no time for all of this, and I stand with them. Disappointing as it may seem to some, more powers for politicians in Cardiff will not be the main topic of conversation in the Top club in Abercarn tomorrow night, or in any pub, club, church or chapel around Wales where Welshmen and women gather. They will talk about the economy, education, health and training, and it is to training that I want to devote most of my remarks. Before I do, however, I pay tribute to my right hon. Friend the Member for Neath (Mr. Hain), who is no longer in his place, for his excellent contribution to the debate today. I also warmly welcome my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Wales back to the Wales Office. It was a pleasure and an honour to serve with him when he was last there. I am pleased that his sound judgment, common sense and plain speaking will once again be heard at the Cabinet table. The Secretary of State will face many difficult issues in the coming months, but I urge him not to be tempted, when he brings proposals for legislation to this House, to make it different simply for the sake of being different. We should make things better when we pass legislation to benefit Wales, but we should not make it different simply for the sake of it. Every step of the way, we must continue to ask ourselves, ““Will this measure make life better for the Welsh people?”” If the answer is a sincere yes, we should forge ahead. If it is no, we should drop it and pursue other avenues that will yield real change for the betterment of the people of Wales. I passionately want our Government to succeed for the people of Britain, but I have to say that making things different in Wales in the past has been a barrier and has denied this left-of-centre Government an opportunity to benefit the people of Wales as they have benefited England.