HC Deb 21 June 1978 vol 952 cc441-3
2. Mr. Monro

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland when he next expects to discuss unemployment with the Scottish Trades Union Congress.

Mr. Milan

I attended the STUC conference in April, but I have no arrangements at present for a further meeting with the genearl council.

Mr. Monro

Is the right hon. Gentle man aware that unemployment in Scotland has risen by over 100,000 since October 1974 and that in the last month it has gone up by 530 a day? Is he blind to the fact that this is basically because of the Government's mishandling of the economy? Welcome though temporary employment schemes are, does he not agree that they are not a long-term cure?

Mr. Milian

I have said on numerous occasions that unemployment is too high. The hon. Gentleman will know that in the current year in Scotland the seasonally adjusted figures have fallen considerably. Although last month's figure showed some stabilisation, I hope that we shall achieve further improvements.

Mr. David Steel

In view of the present totally unsatisfactory level of unemployment in Scotland, has the Secretary of State made any estimate of what would be the additional unemployment if the 51 per cent. take-over powers of the Scottish Development Agency were removed, as promised by the Conservative Party? Will he take it from me that in the Borders the non-availability of these powers would have had a very serious effect in four towns?

Mr. Milan

I am glad to hear that from the right hon. Gentleman, because the SDA is involved with companies in Scotland which are employing thousands of people, many of whom would not be in employment but for the activities of the SDA. Anyone who seeks to damage the powers of the SDA, as does the Con- servative Party, is doing a grave disservice to the people of Scotland.

Mr. William Hamilton

Is my right hon. Friend aware that the Conservative Party looks increasingly absurd by seeking to blame the Government for unemployment in Scotland and elsewhere? Is it not obvious that this unemployment is due entirely to the international crisis and that the electors of Hamilton and Garscadden have given a definite answer to the Opposition in the last few months?

Mr. Milan

I agree with my hon. Friend, particularly on his latter point. I do not believe that anyone in Scotland thinks that the Conservative Party or the SNP has an answer to the unemployment problem.

Mr. Crawford

Does the Secretary of State agree that the scandalous unemployment figures in Scotland would be greatly reduced if the Government told the British Steel Corporation that it must not cut back its production targets at Ravenscraig from 3.2 million tons to 2.2 million tons, as is currently proposed?

Mr. Milian

The investment at Ravenscraig will take the present capacity of 1.5 million tons up to 3.2 million tons. The hon. Gentleman is careful to avoid mentioning that fact and is guilty of indulging in the most tendentious and misleading propaganda in Scotland on the whole steel industry. Only parliamentary convention prevents my saying what I really think about the hon. Gentleman and his statements on the steel industry.

Mr. Sillars

Is not the most appalling feature of the present situation the Government's complacency in the face of unemployment figures of the current magnitude? Has the Secretary of State forgotten everything he ever learned in the Socialist movement about the destructive and corrosive effects of 100 per cent. unemployment on each individual personality? Is it not the case that, aided and abetted by the hon. Member for Fife, Central (Mr. Hamilton), the objective of the Government is not to produce full employment but to get the people of Scotland to accept the present unacceptable levels?

Mr. Milian

I repudiate that. It is the Government's aim to get the level of unemployment in Scotland significantly reduced. I am not in the least bit complacent about unemployment.

Mr. Teddy Taylor

Has not the Secretary of State got a nerve to answer as he has on unemployment when his Government were elected on a manifesto which stated that we could not tolerate the high levels of unemployment from which Scotland has suffered in the last 20 years? Does he agree that unemployment has more than doubled since he took office and that he has sat in the Cabinet and agreed to policies, such as the increased national insurance contributions, that will further increase unemployment in Scotland?

Mr. Milan

It is the hon. Gentleman who has a nerve considering that he voted against the plans for Chrysler, which employs 8,000 workers at Linwood, and the nationalisation of the shipbuilding industry, without which we would have lost between 10,000 and 20,000 jobs in Scotland. He and his party have voted against virtually every action taken by the Government to reduce unemployment.