§ Q2. Mr. Sheldonasked the Prime Minister if he will place in the House of Commons Library a copy of the public speech he made in Glasgow on 26th March on economic matters.
§ The Prime MinisterI did so on 29th March.
§ Mr. SheldonSince the Prime Minister in his speech said that the escalation of wage demands was a prime cause of the decline in industrial investment, and since he has said that the escalation of wage demands has been brought to a halt, 703 will he therefore be increasing the Treasury forecast of a zero per cent. increase in investment in the second half of this year?
§ The Prime MinisterThe purpose of my right hon. Friend's Budget measures was precisely to increase the incentive to investment. From the change of climate that is already evident in the C.B.I. and amongst industrialists, there is every hope that that will be brought about.
§ Mr. AtkinsonWhat advice has the Prime Minister for trade unionists who are at present negotiating productivity bargains if, as a result of signing those bargains, men are made unemployed? Should trade unionists go ahead and sign productivity agreements if men will be put out of work as a result of them?
§ The Prime MinisterThe hon. Gentleman is making the assumption that if one makes an agreement which results in an increase in productivity comparable with the increase in wage rates, plus the reduction in employment hours, one will put people out of work. That is not the case. It means, in fact, that the product can be manufactured at a price which remains competitive in world markets. Far from putting people out of work, one can, thereby, increase employment.