I want to return to the Agricultural Wages Board—a good example —and ask the Solicitor-General why he is so adamantly trying to stop the agricultural wages sector in Wales, which is important to us in Wales as a rural economy. I represent the wonderful rural constituency of Swansea East and—I have to say this—I have a husband and son who are actively engaged in the rural community. I therefore get my ear bent about this matter on a regular basis by family, friends and neighbours, and I note the concern that people are expressing to me, and the worry. We have already seen the agricultural industry hit. Many people will have far greater fluency on the issue and be more qualified to speak about these matters than I am, but the idea that we in Wales cannot make a decision about helping farmers and rural workers within the boundaries of Wales without having it challenged is a retrograde step in the light of devolution, as many of my colleagues have said.
I am worried because the Farmers Union of Wales has stated clearly that this is about attracting young people of high calibre to the agricultural industry. If we want to attract the best young, forward-thinking people, including women, into rural industries and those related to them, how do we do that when we have to fight for every penny? How do we say, possibly when unscrupulous employers are taking advantage of the fact that there is now no Agricultural Wages Board to protect people, “It’s okay, we’ll look after you”?
This is not a race to the bottom; it is supposed to be a race to the top, but I am finding it difficult, and I would like the Solicitor-General to explain the situation to me and to all the people in Wales, including the 13,300 agricultural workers who would be protected by the introduction of the legislation in Wales. They are heaving a huge sigh of relief and are sympathetic to their fellow workers across the border in England. We already have wages boards in Scotland and Northern Ireland, and we cannot see why this legislation was introduced in Westminster.
I am going over old ground—the Minister will have heard this regularly and be well aware of it—but we want and need that protection in Wales. If we want a thriving rural sector in Wales, we must pay decent wages. We must ensure that we can protect people.
As I have said, I have friends in unglamorous jobs in farming—cow men, shepherds, general farm workers and farriers. They are cross, as hon. Members can imagine. They expect to be protected. They have been successfully protected for 65 years. During that period, many hundreds of thousands of people have been ensured a minimum wage and protection.
When the right hon. Member for South East Cambridgeshire (Sir James Paice) was a Minister in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, he suggested that Labour Members assumed that farm workers were “forelock-tugging yokels”. All hon. Members accept that the world has moved on since 1948, but protection is not backward looking; it is about the future.
Somebody once likened history to using a rear-view mirror in a car: it is useful, but we do not necessarily need it. My hon. Friend the Member for Newport West (Paul Flynn) spoke of history, particularly of the Chartists. We should look over our shoulders and ask why the Agricultural Wages Board was established in the first place and what it has done over the years. I am sorry, but in Wales we would like to plough our own furrow—pardon my pun.
I return to the basic question. The board is supported by farming unions in Wales and other parts of the UK. I ask the Minister to accept that we in Wales want to be forward thinking. We want to protect people and give them decent wages. The Labour Welsh Assembly Government is to be congratulated on their action. They should not be stymied and thwarted at every corner. Let us move forward.
6.12 pm