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Unemployment in the UK

I am grateful to my hon. Friend who has been in and out of the debate, unlike the hon. Member for Monmouth (David T.C. Davies) who has just come in. That point has been addressed by many Labour Members, because the Thatcher Government not only massaged the figures, but they did so 18 times to mask unemployment levels. They put people on to long-term sickness benefit, contributing to long-term unemployment in many areas. The other big employer in my constituency is transport, including the port of Holyhead, and fuel prices are having an impact not only on road hauliers, but on the ferry companies that use a lot of fuel to get people and goods across the Irish sea. I hope that the Government will take that on board. I welcome the fact that the Chancellor decided against the duty increase this autumn, because that will help the road hauliers, but more has to be done to help intensive fuel users such as fast ferry companies. They transport people and goods to help the economy to keep moving at full speed. I have raised challenging issues for my constituency and they need to be addressed. The Government are not running away from their obligations, but it is right for Labour Members to remind people of recent history. The hon. Member for Harwich (Mr. Carswell) is not in his place at the moment, but I know that the Conservatives would like to forget recent history and their record on employment and unemployment. We need to secure existing jobs and provide opportunities and hope for the long-term unemployed. That is why it is worth investing in skills for our young people and in re-skilling older people. We must help those who are still on long-term unemployment or sickness benefit to get back to work. I have said on many occasions that I want to see a carrot-and-stick approach to that, but I want the carrot to be bigger than the stick. We should help and encourage the long-term unemployed back to work. The Government were right in 1997 to tackle mass unemployment and to put that at the top of their agenda. They were right to introduce the new deal, which has been a success in my constituency and many others in Wales, including Preseli Pembrokeshire, which has seen one of the largest falls in unemployment of the past 10 years under this Labour Government. They are also right to invest in people and communities. Getting people off unemployment benefit is a price worth paying. The immediate prospect of global and financial turmoil will be challenging, but we must remain focused on the need to modify and reform the welfare state by giving support and hope to our people, instead of returning to the bad old days of mass unemployment in the 1980s, which still scar my constituency and many others across the UK. We must move forward, not back to those days.