§ Q6. Mr. Canavanasked the Prime Minister whether he is satisfied with the co-ordination between the Secretaries of State for Scotland, Trade, Industry and 627 Employment in dealing with the unemployment situation in Scotland.
§ The Prime MinisterYes, Sir.
§ Mr. CanavanSince the latest Scottish unemployment figures are the only ones in Britain to show an increase, is it any surprise that more than 100,000 Scottish Workers went on strike yesterday to protest against unemployment? When my right hon. Friend shortly joins his comrades here on the Back Benches, will he try to use his considerable influence to ensure that his successor does not just get a new job for himself but tries to fight for jobs for other people by pursuing a Socialist policy of full employment?
§ The Prime MinisterThe fact that there was a strike yesterday, obviously supported by my hon. Friend, was not a surprise: it was a disappointment. The most recent figures on unemployment, which have been tending this way for some three or four months, and one must not attach too much importance to a single month's figures, have actually fallen in all regions, except, seasonally corrected, in Scotland.
I hope that my hon. Friend will proclaim in all his powerful speeches north of the border that, in spite of what I have just said, the unemployment position in Scotland, relative to Britain as a whole, has improved substantially over the past two years. In March 1974 unemployment in Scotland was 56 per cent. above the rate for Britain as a whole. It has fallen progressively and the figure is now 19 per cent. I am sure that my hon. Friend will proclaim that fact all over his constituency and still wider in Scotland.
§ Mrs. BainIs the Prime Minister satisfied with the work of the Secretary of State for Scotland who stated categorically in the House yesterday that he did not regard the rising unemployment figure as disastrous? Is he aware that the SNP Members, like their colleagues in the STUC, certainly regard the figure as disastrous and have every intention of trying to rectify the situation by building an economy in a free Scotland?
§ The Prime MinisterI of course accept that the hon. Lady and her colleagues regard the rise as disastrous. What is clear to all hon. Members, except those 628 on her rather narrow Bench, is that if the SNP prescriptions were operated, unemployment in Scotland would be a great deal higher and the standard of living there a great deal lower as a result of their desire for divorcement, which, to be fair to them, they have never disguised. They are separatists and the people of Scotland are not.
I do not regard this small seasonally corrected increase as disastrous. I regard the present level of unemployment as intolerable and unacceptable, and I am glad that the House now recognises that we have reached a turning point both for the economy and for unemployment.
Dr. M. S. MillerWithout paying too much attention to the blandishments of SNP Members—and my right hon. Friend correctly states that if they had their way, the situation in Scotland would be completely disastrous—will my right hon. Friend use his considerable influence and good offices in Scotland to ensure that if there has to be a further degree of unemployment—which I do not accept— it is spread equally throughout the country and does not result in the closure of whole factories in Scotland?
§ The Prime MinisterI was not succumbing to blandishments. I was answering a perfectly fair question of the hon. Member for Dunbartonshire, East (Mrs. Bain), whom I always treat with great courtesy.
On the question of the spreading of unemployment, I have given the figures— that the unemployment relative, as it is called, has fallen from 156 to 119. As to particular factory closures, although Conservative Members and others voted against us, I think that we were right and that what we did has been proved to be right, not only on Chrysler but on Leyland, where a great deal of Scottish employment is involved. The House will have noted with great satisfaction, especially the Tories who voted against us, that over the last five months British Leyland, for the first time for a very long period, has been working not at a loss but covering itself.
§ Mr. David SteelBefore the Prime Minister finally lays down the reins of office at the end of the fifth ballot, will he take a look at the workings of the new Scottish Development Agency, which has some very serious problems on its 629 hands, and assess whether in terms of job creation in rural areas of Scotland it will be as effective as the old Small Industries Council and Development Commission undoubtedly were?
§ The Prime MinisterI note that the hon. Member refers to a fifth ballot. It is not for me to make forecasts about that. The hon. Gentleman will have noticed, however, the much greater dignity surrounding the question of the leadership of the Labour Party as compared with the action of so many of his hon. Friends, particularly the weightier ones—by "weightier" I am talking of bulk and not intelligence—[Interruption,] I know the hon. Member concerned. He was a Labour Party agent. He resigned because he objected to a Labour Government limiting the increase in council house rents which he wanted to raise. I guarantee not to shop him while I am speaking from this Bench.
The hon. Member for Roxburgh, Selkirk and Peebles (Mr. Steel), having talked about the dignity with which we are conducting our succession at present, will nevertheless recognise that on these Scottish matters I have fully answered his question.