§ Q3. Mr. Barnettasked the Prime Minister when he next intends to take the chair at a meeting of the National Economic Development Council.
§ The Prime MinisterI did so at the last meeting on 7th April. My right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer is Chairman of the Council, but I shall continue to take the chair from time to time.
§ Mr. BarnettIn the present serious situation, will the Prime Minister consider attending again soon? If he is not prepared to answer the previous question from my right hon. Friend the ex-Prime Minister—-and the future Prime Minister—will he not accept that the Chancellor said categorically in his Budget Statement that he has the power to reduce unemployment? If, as his speech last night indicated, the Prime Minister is not prepared to say that a figure of 800,000 unemployed is intolerable, will he at least tell the House today clearly that he is prepared to intervene if it should reach the outrageous level of 1 million that is forecast?
§ The Prime MinisterThe figure given by the hon. Gentleman is a forecast for which he must be responsible, not the Government. I have made it clear that I will from time to time preside over meetings of the N.E.D.C., and I always tell the Council when I am going to do so. My right hon. Friend the Chancellor said that he had made a judgment on the best information that he could get of what was likely to happen to unemployment in relation to productive capacity and wage demands, that in his Budget he had taken action to deal with these, and that if in the future further action is necessary he has the means to take it.