HC Deb 31 May 1960 vol 624 cc1167-71
37. Mr. Swingler

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies the present minimum wage for adult African workers in Nairobi; what proportion of African workers receive less than 180 shillings per month; and if it was with his authority that the Labour Commissioner in Nairobi recently stated that the adult African worker with a family needs a minimum standard of at least 180 shillings per month.

Mr. Iain Macleod

The present minimum adult monthly wage in Nairobi, including housing allowance, is 119½ shillings. The proportion of workers receiving less than 180 shillings a month is not known, but the average monthly wage of all Africans in Nairobi in 1959 was, including housing allowance, 204 shillings.

The Labour Commissioner did not speak with my foreknowledge, but I have no reason to question his estimate that a man, wife and two children in Nairobi need a wage, excluding housing allowance, of 182½ shillings; and it is the Kenya Government's policy eventually to reach this target.

Mr. Swingler

Does not this report of the situation reveal the seriousness of the roots of economic discontent in Nairobi? Is it not now quite clear from these revelations, even before receiving the Government's final report, that the majority of African workers in Nairobi receive a wage which is totally inadequate to maintain themselves and their families, and that there is a considerable proportion of them who cannot achieve this standard because they are unemployed? Therefore, should not urgent measures be taken by the Government to improve this position?

Mr. Macleod

There is a very big difference between the minimum wage and the average monthly wage, as the figures which I have given show, but I do not want to under-estimate the seriousness of this problem. I entirely agree with the hon. Member. I think that this is a most important matter and it is one to which the Kenya Government are giving very high priority indeed.

Mr. Callaghan

What does the Colonial Secretary mean by saying that eventually they hope to reach this standard? Are there active plans now which the Government propose to implement so that there can be a target date for reaching a standard of this sort? If not, cannot the Colonial Secretary invite the Colonial Development Corporation and other bodies to go to Kenya with a view to setting in hand an emergency programme to raise the standards there?

Mr. Macleod

I think that there is more to it than that. Questions of raising minimum standards must obviously be related to the economic circumstances of the country. Otherwise, conceivably the matter might be made much worse. There is heavy unemployment in Nairobi. What I meant about the Kenya Government comes out more clearly on the next Question. There are two stages in which they are planning this advance, which is examined every six months by the Council of Ministers.

38. Mr. Swingler

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies if his attention has been drawn to the recent evidence sent to him by the hon. Member for Newcastle-under-Lyme, showing that two-thirds of the African workers in Nairobi are undernourished and inadequately clothed, and that the wages of one-third are so low that they are unable to maintain their families in the city; and what consideration is being given by the Kenya Government to this.

Mr. Iain Macleod

I have seen the newspaper report which the hon. Member sent me, but I have not seen the detailed survey on which it seems to be based. The Kenya Government's immediate aim is to raise the minimum adult wage to a level where it can support a man and his wife, as a first step towards the goal of a level where it can support a family with two children.

Mr. Swingler

Is it not clear that the report of Mrs. Marian Forrester, of the Christian Council of Kenya, has revealed a very grave situation to which the Colonial Office does not seem to be sizing up at all? Is it not ridiculously complacent to say that they are working towards the provision some time in the future of subsistence for the African workers whilst hon. Members opposite are complaining about lawlessness and violence? No wonder there is lawlessness and violence. [Interruption.] Is it not the Government's responsibility to produce a plan which shows that the African workers will be given full employment and a satisfactory wage?

Mr. Macleod

I do not think that the hon. Member is accurate in saying that I have shown in my answers any complacency. My very first reply to him underlined the seriousness of the situation. When there is heavy unemployment in Nairobi, to try to deal at once with the problem of lifting up the minimum wage to the sort of levels the hon. Member is suggesting would not help. People inevitably would do with fewer workers and unemployment would be increased. It is far better that this matter be kept under review by the Council of Ministers and that they move to these levels.

Mr. P. Williams

Will not my right hon. Friend agree that, whilst naturally accepting that African wages should be raised to a reasonable level as soon as possible, there is a great danger of creating a magnet in Nairobi to draw in labour from the land, and that the other half of the problem is to see that there is a proper programme of land consolidation and settlement?

Mr. Macleod

I agree with what has been said. Nairobi has been acting unquestionably as a magnet lately, and that has been in part the cause of the trouble. There have been signs that that position has eased, and for the last month or so there has been something of a return from the towns and a reversal of the flow which was so obvious only a short while ago.

Mr. Callaghan

Whether or not the Colonial Secretary is complacent, the House has a right to be satisfied that he and the Kenya Government have plans for dealing with this situation. Will he undertake to publish what economic or social proposals the Kenya Government have for meeting—not eventually, but within a measurable period of time the need for providing these people with the basic necessities of life?

Mr. Macleod

I have given the two different aims of the Kenya Government. If the hon. Member would like any detailed examination of them, perhaps he will table a Question to me for the first Tuesday after the Whitsun Recess when I will be first for Questions and I will give him as full information as I can.

Mr. Callaghan

This is a very serious matter with which we can hardly deal by question and answer. What is now coming out shows that there is a very important and serious situation to deal with. I therefore ask the Colonial Secretary if he will publish a statement of the detailed plans of the Kenya Government rather than that we should have an exchange at Question Time.

Mr. Macleod

I will certainly consider how that can be done. I should have thought that as these questions have been asked in the House it would be better that answers were given in the House. If the hon. Member wants to find another method, I will be glad to consider that.