ROGER WILLIAMS MP CHALLENGES SECRETARY OF STATE OVER MANUFACTURING

10.35.12am BST (GMT +0100) Thu 11th Jun 2009

Roger Williams, MP for Brecon and Radnorshire and Liberal Democrat Shadow Secretary of State for Wales, used today's Welsh Oral Questions session to call on the Secretary of State, Peter Hain MP, to do more to support manufacturing in Wales.

Mr Williams said:

"While some companies have managed to navigate through the difficult current economic conditions there are many that have not and many jobs have been lost in the process.

"I have called on the new Secretary of State to make support for the Welsh manufacturing sector his number one priority.

"Too many communities in Wales have been abandoned by the Government in the past and it is vital that the Secretary of State, on his return to the Cabinet, does not allow this to be the case again."

NOTES:

Mr Williams Question was as follows:

Mr. Roger Williams (Brecon and Radnorshire) (LD): Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank you for your kindness over the years-even though you have occasionally confused me with the hon. Member for Caernarfon (Hywel Williams). I also welcome back to his former post the Secretary of State, who faces greater challenges now than ever before. I should also like to thank his predecessor, who was kind enough to meet representatives from a group of manufacturing companies in my constituency.

Manufacturing is key to the Welsh economy, but Experian recently released a report that suggested that 350,000 manufacturing jobs would be lost across the UK between now and 2010. We know that a significant proportion of those losses will affect Wales's already battered manufacturing sector. On his return to the Cabinet, will the Secretary of State make protecting Welsh manufacturing jobs his No. 1 priority? The last thing we want to see is whole communities left on the scrap heap, as happened in the 1980s and 1990s.

Mr. Hain: I very much agree with the hon. Gentleman, and I shall certainly be happy to work with him. I know that the sort of manufacturing that still exists in his constituency is very important. It tends to be made up of small and medium-sized enterprises that need all the support that they can get. I also thank the hon. Gentleman for his welcome. I do not know who was the more prejudiced by the confusion between him and the hon. Member for Caernarfon (Hywel Williams).