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Work Programme (Wales)

No, I will not. The hon. Lady would not give way and little time is left to me. The fact is that the Government are going for growth and have confidence in the future of this country, while the hon. Lady’s party does not. Her party has spent most of the debate talking the country and Wales down. I am glad and proud to say that I am a member of a Government who have confidence in this country and in the future of Wales. I am intrigued by the contribution of the hon. Member for Vale of Clwyd, because he spoke convincingly on the initiatives adopted by his local area. He talked about the private-public-voluntary sector partnership in his town. Well, that sounds awfully like Tory policy. In fact, it sounds remarkably like the big society. I am glad to see that he welcomes it. [ Interruption. ] Frankly, the noises off from the hon. Member for Wrexham lead me to wonder whether the Labour party fully understands the significance and the depth of the challenges faced by the country. There is a large mass of young people in this country who have never worked. They need to be helped into work. Sadly, the Labour party, rather than wanting to create new high-value private sector jobs for them, is quite happy to see them festering on long-term unemployment and sickness benefits. That is something that the Government are unprepared to tolerate. The hon. Member for Arfon is right that it is not simply a question of money; it is a question of social good and self-respect. People need work. The Government’s tailored approach to unemployment is the right approach. What young people need is the individual help that they will receive under the Government’s Work programme. There can be nothing more depressing than to listen to the noises that come from the Opposition, who seem to think that it is entirely appropriate that such people should remain on unemployment and incapacity benefit for ever. We are determined that every single unemployed person in the country should have the targeted care that he or she needs to get back into employment. We are prepared to make sure that they have work experience and training, and in that respect I must point out that, as has been said by colleagues, many of the levers reside in the hands of the Welsh Assembly Government. We are quite happy—in fact, we are determined—to do our best to work with the Welsh Assembly Government to ensure that the necessary training is provided, but the economic levers are in their hands. I was disappointed that the enterprise zones that the Labour-controlled Welsh Assembly Government now intend to set up were established so very late. I was also disappointed by the sneering remarks of the hon. Member for Wrexham when my hon. Friend the Member for Vale of Glamorgan drew attention to the benefit of enterprise zones. The hon. Member for Wrexham actually disputed the fact that Tata had been attracted to the midlands by the prospect of an enterprise zone. If, after our sitting is concluded, he cares to check his records, he will see that the development is in the i54 enterprise zone, and that the local authority praised the fact that the zone had been established to attract a £750 million investment by Jaguar Land Rover into the area. That is something that can be undertaken in Wales and, sad to say, the Labour Welsh Assembly Government have dragged their feet. Now that they actually have the economic lead and the primary powers, and now that they have been equipped by the Conservative party with what they need to get on with the job, I hope that they will. I believe that Wales can have a bright future. There is scope for regeneration and more employment in Wales, but what that requires is not politicking or the making of cheap political points but, frankly, all parties working together and, more importantly, Westminster and Cardiff working together. The Conservative party is prepared to do that; we now wait to see what the Welsh Assembly Government will do.