HC Deb 20 May 1975 vol 892 cc1189-90
1. Mr. Hoyle

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what are the figures for redundancies in the textile industry in the North-West in 1974 and to the most recent date for which figures are available.

The Under-Secretary of State for Employment (Mr. John Fraser)

I am informed by the Manpower Services Commission that redundancies involving some 2,050 people were notified as due to occur in 1974 in the textile industry in the North-West. The figure for the first four months of 1975 is 1,400.

Mr. Hoyle

In view of the figures given by my hon. Friend and the fact that yesterday the Secretary of State for Industry also estimated that 13,000 jobs had been lost in the textile industry due to entry into the Common Market, will my hon. Friend urge upon his colleagues that action is urgently needed in the cutting of low-cost imports into this country if we are to have a textile industry in the future?

Mr. Fraser

The Government recognise the seriousness of the position, and my hon. Friend will recognise that there are difficulties about compensation and retaliation. However, I assure him that the Government take the matter most seriously.

Mr. Fletcher-Cooke

When will these figures get better, when will the trend be reversed and when shall we get a statement of Government policy?

Mr. Fraser

The present trend in sales of textiles comes from a fall in demand. The position in the United Kingdom is no different from that in other textile-producing countries. We hope that an upswing of world trade will take the textile trade with it.

Mr. James Lamond

Does not my hon. Friend recognise that that is a rather complacent answer? We had a debate in this House—and there has been one in another place—on textiles which was almost unanimous in calling for across-the-board restrictions on imports. We have been told repeatedly that the Government are still considering the matter. Cannot we have an answer, at least before the recess, so that something can be saved of the textile industry in Great Britain?

Mr. Fraser

I am aware of the contents of those debates. Whether there is a cut in imports is a matter not for me but for other Departments. I again assure my hon. Friend that there are problems, but the Government have the matter under urgent and serious consideration.

Mr. Hall-Davis

Will the Minister recognise that what is a matter for him is that in a recession of this kind many people will leave the industry and will not return to it when trade recovers, and that the trade will be at the mercy of foreign producers? Will he recognise that if we do not remain in the Common Market it will be much more difficult to maintain employment in the textile industry?

Mr. Fraser

The hon. Gentleman may well be jumping to conclusions which are not justified by the exchanges.