HC Deb 16 July 1974 vol 877 cc233-5
13. Mr. Dixon

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how much has been paid in supplementary benefits to strikers' families in each of the last three years.

Mr. O'Malley

The approximate figures are £4.3 million in 1971, £8.4 million in 1972 and £0.7 million in 1973.

Mr. Dixon

Now that the hon. Gentleman is in government himself, will he take us into his confidence and give us some indication of the difficulties which he and his colleagues anticipate having in governing the country during the next six months, bearing in mind that taxpayers are potentially subsidising large numbers of their fellow citizens who are holding the country to ransom?

Mr. O'Malley

To the extent that the country became ungovernable, that took place during the last months of the last Tory Government. To the extent that there has been an improvement, that has been the result of the policies of the present administration. If the hon. Gentleman has any complaints to make about the level of the figures which I have given, he should remember that the figures are the direct result of Tory industrial relations policies. The figures are nearly 14 times higher for the three years that I have mentioned than those for the three full years of a Labour administration between 1967 and 1969. In that period the total cost under Labour was about £1.4 million. For the three full years of a Tory Government it was about £14 million. That figure reflects the success of Tory policies.

Mr. Molloy

Does my hon. Friend agree that instead of dealing with the spiteful trivia raised by the hon. Member for Truro (Mr. Dixon) it is much better to consider what any successful Government should do, and what the present Government are doing—namely, keeping the work-force healthy and creating industrial harmony so that we do not have the sort of strikes which ultimately led to the three-day week, which nearly paralysed the nation? To raise social questions of this nature on the Floor of the House is reprehensible in the context of the manner in which the previous Government administered.

Mr. O'Malley

Of course my hon. Friend is right. Conservative Members who persist in following this subject at Question Time should remember that what they are criticising is not Labour Government legislation but the Social Security Act 1971, which was introduced by the last Conservative Government. As these criticisms are being made of the activities of the previous Government, it will be interesting to know whether the present Conservative Front Bench is disavowing the policies followed by the previous Tory administration in 1971 and whether it is now prepared to assume even more vicious policies towards men on strike.

Mr. Bruce-Gardyne

Will the Minister explain how it came about that he told the House about a month ago that the total cost of the strike subsidy this year had run to £4 million when the cost of the strike subsidy in the Ulster situation alone amounted to £5 million? Further, will he explain what legislative authority there was from this House for the payment of £5 million in Northern Ireland in what I believe even the Labour Party regards as a political strike?

Mr. O'Malley

I think it is right that the hon. Gentleman should spotlight the expenditure of £4.4 million so far this year. That spotlights the miners' strike which was caused by the policies of the previous administration. The Northern Ireland situation is a question for my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.