UNEMPLOYMENT (Hansard, 29 April 1971)

§ Q7. Mr. Raphael Tuck
asked the Prime Minister how many representations he has now received protesting against the increase in unemployment.

§ The Prime Minister
I have nothing to add to the answer I gave on 22nd April to Questions from the hon. Members for Heywood and Royton (Mr. Barnett) and Birmingham, Northfield (Mr. Carter)—[Vol. 815, c. 1356–9.]

§ Mr. Tuck
How far does the right hon. Gentleman intend to allow unemployment to soar before taking positive steps to counteract it? Is he aware that such steps could include the reintroduction of investment grants and an easing of credit restrictions, particularly for the building industry? Is he keeping the balance of payments surplus at an artificially high level simply to pay for Britain's entry into the Common Market?

§ The Prime Minister
The balance of payments surplus is certainly not being kept at an artificially high level, although it will obviously be required in part to continue paying off the debt which we inherited from our predecessors.

§ Mr. Bruce-Gardyne
To what extent do the current levels of unemployment reflect cut-backs in industrial investment resulting from the catastrophic fall in corporate profits following the policies of the Labour Government?

§ The Prime Minister
One cannot put a specific figure on that analysis, though, 708 as has been made absolutely clear by everyone in industry, and certainly by the T.U.C. and the C.B.I., what is particularly worrying is the lack of investment due to a lack of corporate resources by companies, and that can only be the consequence of the policies of the previous five years. We have taken measures, such as the halving of S.E.T. and the reduction of corporation tax, to ensure that they have greater liquidity. This, accompanied by a reduction in Bank Rate, should help further investment.

§ Mr. Duffy
Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that on Monday of this week The Times argued with the greatest conviction and credibility in the columns of its economics editor that the Chancellor of the Exchequer is using unemployment as a major weapon to combat inflation?

§ The Prime Minister
There is absolutely no truth in the allegation that unemployment is being used as a matter of policy to combat inflation. We have been using every other weapon open to us, and we still hope that hon. Gentlemen opposite will support us in the battle against inflation.

§ Dame Irene Ward
Will my right hon. Friend tell hon. Gentlemen opposite with very great emphasis that a fair day's work for a fair day's pay would help enormously in solving all these difficulties?

§ The Prime Minister
A fair day's work for a fair day's pay would be very desirable from Her Majesty's Opposition.

§ Mr. Thorpe
Reverting to the question which I put to the right hon. Gentleman on Tuesday, since he had no difficulty when he was Leader of the Opposition in prophesying what the unemployment levels were likely to be under a Labour Government, why, when he is in full possession of the statistics, cannot he take the House into his confidence and tell us what is his prophecy about unemployment? Does he think the figure will go up, will remain constant or will have been reduced by Christmas?

§ The Prime Minister
The right hon. Gentleman knows very well that successive Administrations have never made forecasts of unemployment.