Scottish Trades Union Congress (Hansard, 6 July 1977)

§ 17. Mr. Canavan
asked the Secretary of State for Scotland when he next expects to meet the Scottish Trades Union Congress.

§ Mr. Millan
With my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer and other colleagues, I shall be meeting the STUC on 26th July.

§ Mr. Canavan
As the trade union movement is currently under attack from the Tories over the Grunwick situation and from the SNP, which insulted the Scottish Trades Union Congiess at its recent party conference, will the Minister see to it that the Labour Government remember their loyalty to the trade union movement by, for example, paying more attention to the STUC's demands for a more Socialist economic strategy, which will help to provide jobs for the 170,000 unemployed in Scotland, especially school leavers?

§ Mr. Millan
I always pay attention to what the STUC puts to me.

§ Mr. Monro
Will the Secretary of State consider the possibility of providing additional incentives in special development areas? Does he appreciate that where there is between 12 per cent. and 16 per cent. unemployment, something further is required in these areas of exceptional difficulty?

§ Mr. Millan
The hon. Gentleman must have missed the announcement made by the Secretary of State for Industry last week about the special development areas, which has improved the incentives there.

§ Mr. Crawford
Will the right hon. Gentleman tell his hon. Friend the Member for West Stirlingshire (Mr. Canavan) that the only party that has upheld the STUC view that there should be no further public expenditure cuts in Scotland is the SNP, and will he also tell him that we shall be looking very carefully to see how the hon. Member for West Stirlingshire votes if this ever comes up again?

§ Mr. Millan
I think that the STUC takes a very realistic view of the SNP—that is, that it considers it utterly useless.