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Legislative Programme and Budget Statement (Wales)

Thank you for calling me, Mr Sheridan. I promise to be as brief as possible. There is a great difference between delivering a speech in this forum and delivering a maiden speech. When many new Members deliver their maiden speeches—especially those of us who represent rural and semi-rural Welsh constituencies—they take a tour of many of the scenic aspects of the seat. The scene that I describe today, however, is not of the picturesque aspects of the seat. It is based on facts about Clwyd South, as it is now: the fact that in March, long-term unemployment was more than 31% below what it was in 1997; the fact that last December there were 8,400 families and 13,000 children benefiting from tax credits; the fact that last August there were 5,000 beneficiaries of pension credit; the fact that in 2008-09, 11,740 households and more than 16,000 people living there benefited from winter fuel payments; the fact that in the school year of 2008-09, 53% of students in the county borough of Wrexham achieved five or more GCSE grades A to C, which was up 12% from 1996-97, and that the comparative figure for the county borough of Denbighshire was up 11% for the same period; the fact that the number of pupils leaving education without any qualifications has decreased form 3.1% in 2004-05 to 0.1% in 2008-09 in Wrexham county borough, and from 4% to 1% in Denbighshire county borough; and the fact that there are now 226 more police officers across north Wales than was the case in March 1997. Those facts do not make the pretty postcards that we associate with many parts of our constituencies, but they show how 13 years of Labour Government in the UK, and Labour-led Administrations in Cardiff, have transformed the life chances of ordinary people. Those of us who live in those communities know all too well that behind every statistic is a person, and hearing their stories makes me more proud than any pat statistic on Labour’s achievements in office. On 27 April, the leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats, Kirsty Williams, said: ““As for the Conservative party, they recently admitted that they want to slash spending immediately, which will have a damaging effect on the Welsh economy given its strong reliance on the public sector.”” Today, a mere two months later, I believe that she was right. It is difficult not to believe that what has driven the Conservative-Lib Dem Budget is an ideological preference against state investment. My former Conservative opponent in Clwyd South has a fondness for writing letters to local newspapers—I believe that he should be greatly encouraged to do so. Only last week he wrote about the kind of investment that 13 years of Labour Government delivered: ““As the massive investment increases in, mostly wasted, spending on education, health, welfare and public sector jobs starts to dry up, we will see that there has been little improvement to show for it.”” Perhaps he should tell that to the 8,400 families who are benefiting from child tax credits, the 5,000 pensioners in Clwyd South who are benefiting from pension credit, the families that have seen hospital waiting lists slashed or the children who have better educational qualifications. Recently, a local newspaper in my area asked residents for their verdicts on the Budget. It was abundantly clear that they still think that the VAT rise is regressive, as did the hon. Member for Brecon and Radnorshire only 10 days ago. A mother mentioned the rise in the cost of household goods, clothes for adults and some food items. A local taxi driver, who brings in £250 a week, commented: ““We cannot afford to put our fares up because we are really down on turnover, it’s really bad. Our costs are going to go up with the VAT, but we are going to have to absorb it even though we are struggling.”” Save the Children calculated that last week’s Budget is likely to cost the poorest families in Wales about £1,600 a year. The manager of a local credit union said: ““The things which will have the biggest impact on people will be the cap on public sector workers earning over £21,000 a year, the rise in VAT from 17.5% to 20% and the change to a whole range of benefits. I can foresee these things will mean that many more people will be coming to us for loans to help balance their family budgets.”” Gwyn Evans, chairman of the Federation of Small Businesses in north Wales, described the increase in VAT to 20% as one that ““will hurt small firms who have to pass the increase on to their customers.””