Treasury and Work and Pensions

As my hon. Friend suggests, that progress has accelerated since the DUP became the largest party in 2003. We do not even control the place yet—we are not in government—so let us just wait until March, June or whenever, and we might see a difference. There are real concerns about the Northern Ireland economy, however, which is why we support the amendment. The economy will require a structural shift away from the public sector, on which we are heavily dependent, to the private sector. The Government have said that, local parties believe that and local business men want that. If there is to be that movement, however, the right conditions must be in place. Given the changes already introduced under direct rule, such as the review of public administration and cuts in the number of quangos, councils and bodies controlling health and education, people will need to be redeployed quickly from the public sector into the private sector. For that to happen, certain conditions will have to be met. First, Northern Ireland must become competitive. As we have heard, the competitiveness of the United Kingdom as a whole has dropped from fourth to 10th in the world. As we share a land boundary with the Irish Republic, which has had rapid growth, it is important that we have the right economic conditions. I was glad to hear the right hon. Member for Wokingham (Mr. Redwood) indicate that one of the changes required was to reduce the level of corporation tax. The level of taxation, including stealth taxes and so on, has never been higher in the United Kingdom. That is one of the reasons for our decreased competitiveness. Several Labour Members have talked about the threat to the environment, and it is significant that that argument has appeared just when the Chancellor is running out of stealth taxes and must find a new excuse to get us to open our wallets and pay more. The threat of freezing or drowning—or frying, if we are talking about global warming—seems to be the Chancellor’s next ploy to get his hands in our pockets. It is essential that we have a low tax base.