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Comprehensive Spending Review

Like a good race horse, the hon. Gentleman is a few lengths ahead, but I will be catching up, I assure him. Most people—whether they are citizens, whether they are old or young, whether they are wealthy or not—recognise the grim reality of our situation. Out in the real world, there is no denial. Outside the political bubble, people realise that serious things must be done to address a serious situation. The fact that we have somehow redacted—to use a recently created expression—the past 13 years seems to lie at the heart of people’s mistrust of politics. I want to finish by dealing with the CSR and with why people have confidence in what the coalition is doing, even though they recognise that it comes with a certain amount of pain. As with all good doctors, sometimes the advice or surgery has to be a little painful; nothing is different in this case. I shall quote a few things from my little patch of west Wales. Let us forget the big political message, the spin and all the parliamentary announcements, and drill down to Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire to hear what people have to say. My two local councils, Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire county councils, recognise that they got a better than expected settlement, which will be tough but deliverable. They are not expecting meltdown in west Wales—I see nods from the hon. Member for Carmarthen East and Dinefwr—they can do this. Dyfed-Powys police recognise that they are in for a tough time, and that policing will not be the same as in the past, but they can do it and still genuinely look after the interests of the community, given the settlement on offer. Local business men, in important industries such as tourism, agriculture and energy production scattered around my constituency, employing anything from two to 200 people, recognise that the measures in place are essential and will deliver proper, long-term growth and prosperity, which will I hope absorb any possible job losses in the public sector. Everyone understands what has to be done to restore growth in our economy, apart, it seems, from the Opposition. That is why people recognise that the comprehensive spending review acknowledges the problems discussed by other Members. People also recognise the importance of infrastructure, whether broadband, road or rail. I was talking to someone who was a Member of this place many years ago; he was bemoaning the closure of the sleeper service that used to run from Paddington to Haverfordwest. Those were the days—he would have finished his dinner by the time he got to Reading. However, things have moved on a little way since then. Decentralisation and deregulation are key aspects covered in the comprehensive spending review, and they have been welcomed. I finish with a quick reference to my good friend Mr John Starzewski, who runs a company called Magstim in Whitland, which is right on the border between Pembrokeshire and Carmarthenshire. He met the Prime Minister and the Chancellor of the Exchequer last week, which indicates how seriously the Prime Minister and the Chancellor are taking the regrowth of small and medium-sized businesses in Wales. There were only 18 people around the table, including a proper representative from Wales. In their conclusions they recognised that employment laws created by the previous Government form a barrier to SME recruitment; that although the value of interns is good, employment law discourages the opportunity to learn; that banks are not a useful source of advice; that without real-world experience one cannot make decisions at local level; and, finally, that people and skills are a crucial part of expansion and the emphasis on the value of knowledge transfer partnerships and research and development tax credits has been restricted by over-zealous HMRC people. They recognised that a number of measures that were passed by the previous Government—often with the best of intentions—frustrated private sector growth. Those discussions last week were at the highest level, and involved business people from small and medium-sized enterprises in Wales. That should be a reflection that the comprehensive spending review is realistic, even if at times it is a painful pill that we have to swallow. I have every confidence that it will deliver the proper balanced economy to which my hon. Friend the Member for Aberconwy referred in his excellent speech.