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Work Programme

The hon. Gentleman has misunderstood me. Two, three, four, five months ago there was a period in which we were seeing monthly growth in private sector employment. The private sector in Wales can and does create jobs. I fully accept that right now we are going through a difficult period in the labour marker. The private sector in Wales is crucial, and it can create jobs, it does create jobs and, over the past 12 months, it has created jobs. We need to see more of that. We have to get the economy in Wales growing and creating jobs. I do not believe that the private sector can compensate, or should try to compensate, for what Wales really needs, which is growth and a thriving public sector. On what we do and how we do it: it is about the partnership that needs to exist between the Welsh Assembly Government and the national Government; it is about national measures that can make a difference, such as a reduction in corporation tax and targeting that reduction on the creation of intellectual property; and it is about the creation of enterprise zones, on which I believe the Welsh Assembly Government are moving to adopt a similar approach to the Government at Westminster. The hon. Member for Arfon can be certain that measures to encourage growth will be a central part of the Chancellor’s autumn statement. Our job as a Government is to sort out the deficit. The hon. Gentleman talks about a plan B, which actually means that Britain should borrow more. My belief is that if Britain borrowed more, there would be a loss of confidence in the business community, a reluctance to invest and a reduction in the willingness to invest, and ultimately, higher unemployment. Alongside that we need measures for growth, such as the measures I have set out today. We need to try to ensure that we provide the best possible support to the unemployed and to the employers that may hire them. We need to bring them together and to ensure that we have people who are motivated, skilled and ready to move into jobs as and when they become available.