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The Economy

I will give way after I have got through this section of my speech. [Interruption.] This is about the hon. Gentleman’s constituents—it is about the many thousands of people in all our constituencies who are losing their jobs. Businesses are going bust because Government schemes that were promised have not been implemented. Let us look at the working capital scheme—no doubt the hon. Gentleman was among the loudest cheerers when it was announced from the Dispatch Box. It was proposed on 14 January and launched in a blaze of publicity. The Business Secretary said at the time:""There will be real results from the schemes that go live today."" Two months later, that scheme does not exist. The date when it was supposed to be up and running came and went weeks ago. The negotiations with the banks are still continuing, and in the meantime good businesses are going bust and good people are losing their jobs. That is not an isolated example of the incompetence of this Government. The automotive assistance programme is supposed to help the car industry. Two months after it was launched, there is no evidence yet that a single car manufacturer has been helped. Earlier this week, the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform floated the idea of a car scrappage scheme. Today, the Treasury is briefing the media that it is not in favour of the scheme. That one did not even last a week. My hon. Friends will recall that the home owners mortgage support scheme was announced by the Prime Minister in the Queen’s Speech debate, yet we are now in March and that scheme does not exist; the number of repossessions is rising, thousands are losing their homes and not a single home owner has received support. What about the national internship scheme, which was announced three months ago? I can find no record of that scheme anywhere—it has completely disappeared without trace. Perhaps the Chief Secretary to the Treasury could tell us what has happened. Ministers cannot distinguish between getting a headline on the "Today" programme and actually making sure that the schemes they promise are implemented and are working, but the public can and this is causing widespread disillusion and despair.