§ Q7. Mr. Mike Thomasasked the Prime Minister when he next plans to meet the TUC.
§ The Prime MinisterI refer my hon. Friends to the reply which I gave to the hon. Member for Conway (Mr. Roberts) on 12th October.
§ Mr. CorbettWhen my right hon. Friend meets the TUC, will he confirm that he shares the view that no amount of unemployment pay can compensate for the indignity and hardship caused to 1110 a man and his family through having his job taken from him? In order particularly to help the young unemployed, will my right hon. Friend consider an early announcement about extending both the scope and the period of the job creation programme?
§ The Prime MinisterYes, Sir. I shall certainly consider both those matters. The temporary employment subsidy has been a very successful means of helping firms which are in temporary difficulties. It expires on 31st December, and the Government are considering what new plans should take its place.
§ Mr. ThomasIs my right hon. Friend aware that due to the problems of the electrical plant industry 15,000 jobs in the Northern Region and 6,000 in my constituency are at stake? Is he also aware that the National Economic Development Office has produced a report which has for some reason not been published and which states that the bringing forward of the orders for electrical plant could save the situation at little or no cost to public expenditure? Is he aware that the policies pursued by my right hon. Friend the Minister of State for Sport and Recreation for either drought or flood situations are not adequate for the CEGB power plant ordering programme?
§ The Prime MinisterYes, Sir. I am aware that there is a very big problem in relation to ordering power plants which seems to have arisen from previous decisions of the Central Electricity Generating Board and past Governments. The Government are now giving careful consideration to this matter, and we shall announce our decision in due course.
§ Sir David RentonWhen the Prime Minister meets the TUC, will he tell it of the profound delight which workers in the largest cold store in Europe, which is in my constituency, have expressed about the part that the House of Lords has played in amending the Dock Work Regulation Bill? Will he further tell the TUC that on this occasion, as on others, it is a case of the Lords being on the side of the workers—[AN HON. MEMBER: " Rubbish ".]—and the workers on the side of the Lords and that both those fine bodies of people are unanimous in being against the Government?
§ The Prime MinisterYes, Sir. I shall certainly convey the right hon. and learned Gentleman's sentiments to the TUC, and I shall be interested to hear its response. If it is printable, I shall send a letter to him.
§ Mr. PardoeWill the Prime Minister, when he next sees the TUC, elicit from it why it disagrees with Sir Ronald Mclntosh's view about the need to concentrate on productive rather than nonproductive public expenditure? Is it the policy of the Government and the TUC to encourage unproductive public expenditure? If not, how do the Government propose to tell the difference between the two?
§ The Prime MinisterI have no idea. But as regards Sir Ronald Mclntosh, I do not think that I shall be discussing this matter with the TUC. It has expresed its view about it. The "Mclntoshes" generally seem to have been causing a bit of bother lately. Regarding the views of Sir Ronald, I thought that his speech was rather like the curate's egg: it was good in parts. There were some parts I found myself in agreement with more than others.