§ Q4. Mr. William Hamiltonasked the Prime Minister what plans he has for visiting Scotland officially in the next six months.
§ The Prime MinisterI intend to undertake visits to Scotland this year, Sir, bur no firm plans have yet been made.
§ Mr. HamiltonWould my right hon. Friend make sure that he gives full pub- 202 licity to all of the quite outstanding achievements of the Government in Scotland since they came to office? [Interruption.] Secondly, before he goes will he read a document recently produced by the Scottish Council on the increased and increasing centralisation of industrial decision-making of all kinds in London, and the remedies proposed to solve that particular problem?
§ The Prime MinisterI should be very glad to read that. With regard to the first part of my hon. Friend's question, he will be aware that I did something of this on my last visit to Scotland in December. I should be very happy, particularly since hon. Gentlemen opposite are anxious to see these achievements publicised, to answer any supplementary questions with regard to the record of this Government over the last four and a half years, compared with the previous four and a half years, whether in advance factories, industrial development certificates, aid in bringing work to Scotland, slum clearance, house building, school building, further education or unemployment.
§ Mr. Gordon CampbellWhen the Prime Minister does visit Scotland, will he investigate a serious matter, namely why there has been a net loss of 35,000 jobs in Scotland in the last four years, whereas there was a net gain of 30,000 jobs during the four years 1960–64, according to the Government's own White Paper?
§ The Prime MinisterI should be very glad to go into the migration figures with my right hon. Friend—
§ The Prime MinisterAs to unemployment, which is the best measure of the—
§ The Prime MinisterPeople who lose their jobs usually become unemployed. As to the unemployment figure, the hon. Gentleman will be glad to know that the latest figure, for February, seasonally adjusted, is lower than that recorded for the whole period from June, 1962, to August, 1964, covering the greater part of the 11th to the 13th years in office of right hon. Gentlemen opposite.
§ Mr. James HamiltonWill my right hon. Friend be sure to visit Lanarkshire, where he will discover that there is a very serious shortage of skilled craftsmen? Is he aware that this is a complete contradiction to the state of affairs in 1963, when in Lanarkshire we had 19,500 unemployed?
§ The Prime MinisterWhen I visited Scotland last year I had the privilege, when I went to Lanarkshire, of seeing one of the most encouraging things that I have seen anywhere in Britain, and that was the training centre for training additional craftsmen to meet the growing demand in the Lanarkshire area.
§ Mr. HeathWill the Prime Minister answer the specific question as to why there have been 35,000 fewer jobs in the four years of his Administration, compared with 30,000 more jobs in the last four years of Conservative administration? There is no point in referring to the unemployment figure, because obviously if people emigrate from Scotland at the rate they were doing two years ago there are bound to be fewer people there to be unemployed. It is the number of jobs that matters.
§ The Prime MinisterI shall be very glad to look into the job figures, and to give them to the right hon. Gentleman. I will also give the right hon. Gentleman what is most relevant to this, the amount of new factory development, the number of new jobs created by this Government, which was at a rate 112 per cent. higher, in terms of floor space—[Interruption.]—and 54 per cent. higher in terms of jobs—[Interruption.]
§ Mr. SpeakerOrder. This is not the Battle of Bannockburn.
§ The Prime MinisterThe figures that I am giving the right hon. Gentleman show that in the past four years industrial development certificates account for an increase of 54 per cent. in the number of jobs created compared with the four years under right hon. Gentlemen opposite.