§ Q1. Mr. Leslie Huckfieldasked the Prime Minister when he will make an official visit to Nuneaton and Bedworth.
§ The Prime Minister (Mr. Edward Heath)I have no plans to do so, Sir.
§ Mr. HuckfieldIs the Prime Minister aware that I put down that Question because it is one of the few Questions which he actually answers when I put 1642 them down? Will the Prime Minister at least give an assurance that the next time he is rushing through on the train to the North-West he will look out of the window, where he will see unemployment which is the highest for many years as a direct result of the Government's policies in restraining the economy? Is the Prime Minister also aware—[HON. MEMBERS: "Reading."]—I am not reading at all. Is the Prime Minister also aware that his friends on the Warwickshire County Council, who rejected my proposals for a local development association, set up a local employment panel which, since the Government took office, has not produced one extra job? Will the Prime Minister get in touch with the Tories on the Warwickshire County Council and tell them to pull their fingers out?
§ The Prime MinisterI am prepared to take an opportunity, when it offers, of going to the hon. Gentleman's area. Concerning employment, I fully realise that the hon. Gentleman's constituency is affected by other industrial areas nearby because it is a travel-to-work area for a large part of the motor industry. At the same time, I cannot accept the hon. Gentleman's allegation that the situation there is the result of Government policy. The cause of recent redundancies in the hon. Gentleman's area, which, so far as I am informed, have been comparatively small, is undoubtedly the fact that firms are reducing their labour forces because of costs.
§ Mr. Harold WilsonSince the right hon. Gentleman two years in succession forecast that under the Labour Government there would be three-quarters of a million unemployed in the succeeding winters, a figure which was nowhere near reached, and since the right hon. Gentleman has now achieved that figure—which includes Nuneaton—will he tell us which alibi or excuse he will employ on this occasion?
§ The Prime MinisterThe unemployment figures, which have increased, as has been seen today, are pointing out the lesson which the right hon. Gentleman himself, when he was in office, was always prepared to tell us: that if wages rose beyond productivity there would be high unemployment.
§ Mr. Harold WilsonThe right hon. Gentleman would no doubt like to quote what I said on those occasions. I said that if they did not co-operate in our policies, which they did, they would have to face a Tory Party whose only answer would be unemployment.
§ The Prime MinisterIf that were the case, perhaps the right hon. Gentleman will explain why he abandoned his statutory incomes policy without having a voluntary policy to put in its place and why, therefore, he confines himself now to nothing except incitement to high wage demands.
§ Mr. Harold WilsonSince I have been challenged—[HON. MEMBERS: "Sit down."] Since I have been challenged—[HON. MEMBERS: "Sit down."] Hon. Gentlemen opposite cannot take it. I was challenged by the right hon. Gentleman to answer a question.
§ Mr. SpeakerOrder. I called the right hon. Gentleman. [An HON. MEMBER: "Three times."] I should warn the House that there are a great many Questions on the Order Paper on the Prime Minister's travel arrangements.
§ Mr. Harold WilsonThe right hon. Gentleman sometimes asked five supplementaries from this Bench at Question Time. Since the right hon. Gentleman challenged me, I refer him to his speech in this House on that very subject on 17th December, 1969, and, further, to his speech about reducing unemployment "at a stroke" on 16th June.
§ The Prime MinisterI was not responsible for the right hon. Gentleman's abandonment of a statutory policy or a voluntary policy, nor was I responsible for the right hon. Gentleman's incitement of higher wage increases—
§ Mr. SpeakerOrder. This is not only Question Time. It is also answer time. If there is so much row that I cannot hear the answer, it is very difficult to keep order.
§ Mr. MolloyOn a point of order. If, as you say, Mr. Speaker, you cannot hear the answers, may I tell you that we are not receiving answers—only glib evasions?