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Work Programme (Wales)

I am afraid I do not have time to give way. The hon. Gentleman had 15 minutes, despite not having attended the beginning of our debate. I think I should proceed. Ever since the Tories came to power, they have told the British people that their jobs are threatened. Why are they now surprised that people do not spend money, do not move and do not buy items in their high street? Shops such as TJ Hughes in Wrexham are closing down because of the atmosphere of fear and worry created by the Government. It is in their political interest to try to drive home to the British people that it is all Labour’s fault. In the 1930s, Herbert Hoover favoured cuts; the result was the great depression. The Government need to wake up and see that they are leading us down a corridor of despair and hopelessness. The young people I saw at Yale college at lunchtime have a tremendous opportunity and future ahead if they have a Government who support them. Fortunately, they have a Welsh Government who let them have education maintenance allowance. Young people in England, who do not have a Labour Government, have had that cruelly taken away from them. At the same time, we have had cuts in corporation tax for the bankers who created the problem in the first place. We all know where the Tories stand. They are the same old Tories: the party of big business funded by hedge fund managers who have no interest in small business and no interest in the future of our young people. I am sorry to say that the policies they are pursuing will not create any opportunities to fill the Work programme. It has already been criticised because increases in unemployment are making the position impossible for the programme to be successful. I am afraid that unless the Government change course, all the good work and all the good companies that I listed earlier will be threatened. They will go elsewhere to find a Government who work with business to support them and who do not pursue an ideological mantra that will lead to horror shows.