HC Deb 11 November 1971 vol 825 cc1213-4
18. Mr. William Price

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what is his policy with regard to the level of unemployment in the West Midlands as indicated by the latest figures ; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Robert Carr

I regard the present level of unemployment as unacceptably high. The Government have already taken very substantial measures to stimulate output throughout the economy and I am confident that the West Midlands, with its strong and diversified industrial base, is well-equipped to take advantage of the expansion which should result from these measures.

Mr. Price

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that in the West Midlands he is regarded as a genius—the only man in 40 years to bring widespread and long-term unemployment? If this is to he the fate under a Tory Government of one of the most prosperous, if not the most prosperous, regions of Britain, what hope is there for the constituencies of my right hon. and hon. Friends in the depressed areas?

Mr. Carr

I think that history will prove that we are initiating the first real expansion of the economy since there was last a Conservative Government in office. The main cause of our trouble is that we are reaping the bitter fruit of six years of stagnation which culminated with the biggest cost-inflation in our history since the war.

Sir G. Nabarro

Will my right hon. Friend bear in mind that unemployment in the West Midlands is 3 per cent. to 4 per cent. compared with 7½ per cent. on Clydebank and even higher elsewhere? May I, as a West Midlands Member, ask him not to change the Government's policies, which will certainly lead to success in the early future?

Mr. Carr:

I am grateful to my hon. Friend. As he indicated, the Government have given a bigger stimulus to the economy than has ever been given in a single year.

Dr. Gilbert

As there has been a considerable increase in the number of redundancies in the West Midlands ever since the last figures were announced, and as there is no hope of the regions being prosperous without the heartland of British industry being prosperous, will the right hon. Gentleman consider trying to influence his colleagues to take a more relaxed view of granting industrial development certificates in the near future?

Sir G. Nabarro

No, certainly not.

Mr. Carr

As the hon. Gentleman knows, that is not a question for me. But if the measures we have taken in our first year of office—the biggest ever taken in a single year to stimulate the economy— are too late, they should have been taken the year before when the Labour Party was in power.