Industry (Government Support)

I congratulate Members who have made their maiden speech today—my hon. Friend the Member for Bracknell (Dr Lee) and the hon. Members for Bolton West (Julie Hilling) and for Wansbeck (Ian Lavery). I am glad I made my maiden speech last week, because they have raised the bar even higher. I wish them all the very best in their future careers in the House. I am glad to be speaking in this debate on the best way for the Government to support industry. There is one thing on which I think all Members will agree, and it is the most important factor—that the recovery of our industrial sector is linked to the recovery of every other part of our economy. That will repair the broken economy bequeathed to us by the former Administration. To help industry, before considering anything else, we have to fix the fundamentals of the economy. Britain's prosperity has traditionally been built on the foundations of sound public finances, low and simple taxation and light, flexible regulation. Over the past 13 years, Labour progressively shredded each of those principles. The previous Government saddled our country with a budget deficit of more than 12% of gross domestic product—the largest in Europe—and a national debt approaching £900 billion, a staggering increase of more than 160% in 13 years. As a result, we have no choice but to make cuts in both public borrowing and public spending. If we do not, we shall no longer be able to sell enough Government bonds to fund the deficit, resulting in a catastrophic economic crisis. It really is that simple. At this point, we cannot even plan to reduce our total debt stock; at best, we can only hope to add to it less fast. Let us be clear: these are Labour's cuts. As we make them, we must of course make sure that we protect the most vulnerable in society.