§ Q5. Mr. Canavanasked the Prime Minister whether he will make an official visit to West Stirlingshire.
§ The Prime MinisterI have at present no plans to do so, Sir.
§ Mr. CanavanWill my right hon. Friend please try to arrange a visit to 204 West Stirlingshire and to include in his programme a visit to Lennox Castle Hospital, where he will see at first hand the excellent work being done by a dedicated staff of doctors and nurses in caring for about 1,500 mentally handicapped patients, including children? Does he realise that there is grave concern amongst the staff trade unions about proposed staffing cuts, which may mean not just a loss of jobs at this and other hospitals but a possible cut in essential services to mentally handicapped patients? Will my right hon. Friend give an assurance that any cut-backs in public expenditure will not affect essential services to the most under-privileged members of the community, such as the mentally handicapped?
§ The Prime MinisterYes. Without even going to the area, I am aware of this hospital's problems. Although I cannot anticipate the White Paper, I can say that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Scotland is taking full account of the needs of the mentally handicapped generally in Scotland, and any expenditure programme would, of course, be the subject of consultation between the health board and the regions concerned. I understand that this is a matter for the Glasgow Regional Health Board and that there will be no difference in treatment, so far as the Government are concerned, between the hospital that my hon. Friend has mentioned and any other hospital in Scotland.
§ Mrs. BainIf the Prime Minister does manage to visit West Stirlingshire will he bear in mind that the problem raised by the hon. Member for West Stirlingshire (Mr. Canavan) is not just a local one but is felt throughout Scotland? Will he use this as an opportunity to explain to the Scottish people why the Labour Government have consistently failed to deal with unemployment in Scotland? Is he aware that estimates show that 200,000 people in Scotland could be unemployed by the end of this year—and that is not counting the skilled redundancies? Does he accept that it is unlikely that the Labour Party, whichever wing of it may stand in constituencies in Scotland, can expect to gain any support from the Scottish people?
§ The Prime MinisterOn the first part of the hon. Lady's question, I thought I made clear that there was no question 205 of discrimination concerning a particular hospital and that it was a general problem, which was the responsibility of the Scottish Health Service Planning Council, the Advisory Council on Social Work, and the regional health board.
On unemployment, as the hon. Lady has fairly said, Scotland has been seriously affected, as has the whole of Britain and the industrial world, by the events of the past two or three years. The hon. Lady will be aware that the ratio of unemployment between Scotland and the rest of Great Britain has fallen considerably, month by month, since this Government took office.
§ Mr. FairbairnWhen the Prime Minister considers the problem of unemployment in the west of Scotland will he note that despite the efforts of the Scottish National Party to preserve jobs at Linwood. 500 more Linwood workers have volunteered to be made redundant than the 2,000 proposed?
§ The Prime MinisterThat sounds very Interesting, but what the relevance of it is to a visit to West Stirlingshire, or what the hon. and learned Member, with his always rather elliptic approach to the serious matters of this House, meant by it, I shall need a little more time to work out.