Welsh Affairs

If the hon. Gentleman will forgive me, I should like to make a little progress. I am sure that he will make his own speech, and will press the case for a project that he has championed relentlessly. I should like to hear from the Minister what progress is being made on it. While preparing people and the business environment for the recovery, we must also ensure that we do not erect barriers—tariff or non-tariff—to new ventures. It is essential that we examine the recently published Welsh language legislative competence order to which the Secretary of State referred, and which is a matter of concern to some businesses in Wales. Conservatives have a proud record on the Welsh language, and are committed to its growth. Every piece of legislation that has strengthened the language has been Conservative-led, including Lord Roberts's excellent Welsh Language Act 1993. Many businesses are already making enormous strides to provide information in Welsh, and we must encourage those efforts through a culture of shared responsibility rather than heavy-handed bureaucracy. We must ensure that the devil is not in the detail of the LCO, which should be examined closely both across the House and, as the Secretary of State reaffirmed, more widely. Some may question our call—I think it is a joint call—for closer scrutiny of the order, but we must ensure that there are no unnecessary burdens on business, and that the good will towards the language is maintained at this time of enormous economic difficulty. We must put the interests of the people and businesses in Wales—especially in these tough economic times—at the heart of any decisions on linguistic policy. I am also concerned about the way in which the LCO will be scrutinised. I hope that the Secretary of State will devote some of his time to examining the way in which the scrutiny process will develop. There is some concern about the possibility that the House and the Welsh Affairs Committee will start to scrutinise the order while recommendations for change are being made in the Assembly. I hope to have a meeting with the Secretary of State to discuss whether, instead of conducting our investigations in parallel, we could conduct them sequentially, so that we can be sure that the document being examined by the Select Committee here is the one recommended by the Welsh Assembly Government. Transport, education, energy, electronic communications, tourism and, perhaps most of all, not creating unnecessary barriers or burdens for business should help to position Wales for the upturn. We share a common aim in wanting to help families and businesses in Wales to come through the current financial difficulties. I hope that the Secretary of State will work closely with the Welsh Assembly Government and with his colleagues to ensure that Wales is in the best possible position to take advantage of the upturn when it comes. We need forward thinking and strategic planning. I think that by looking at our longer-term goals as well as dealing with our short-term problems we can ensure that Wales comes through these difficult times with the means to succeed in the future. I want to end on a positive note for St. David's day. I think we in Wales will have our ““we can do”” moment: I believe that our businesses and people can work hard, and that we can create the right climate for inward investment—and I look forward to having the opportunity, on another occasion, of being able to read out all the job gains and inward investment coming into Wales, rather than having to spend time concentrating on the job losses and the businesses that have gone.