Scottish TUC (Hansard, 23 May 1979)

§ 12. Mr. Strang
asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what plans he has to meet representatives of the Scottish Trades Union Congress.

§ Mr. Younger
I met representatives of the General Council of the Scottish Trades Union Congress on 21 May.

§ Mr. Strang
Does the Secretary of State accept that the Scottish economy is especially vulnerable to cuts in public expenditure and public investment and that the policies announced in recent days by the Government threaten thousands of jobs in these? Will he at least give an assurance that some attempt will be made to moderate the impact of these policies in Scotland?

§ Mr. Younger
The hon. Gentleman should bear in mind that the Scottish 1037 economy is exceptionally vulnerable to industries having to contract or go out of business when long-term policies act against their interests. He should have been worried about that when the previous Government presided over the doubling of unemployment.

§ Mr. Allan Stewart
In his talks with the Scottish TUC, will my right hon. Friend emphasise the need for giving greater publicity to the fact that industrial relations in Scotland are a great deal better than they are often painted?

§ Mr. Younger
I am grateful to my hon. Friend for that remark, which indeed is true. I have always been at pains to emphasise to those who might be considering setting up business in Scotland that the majority of Scottish businesses have extremely good labour relations records.

§ Mr. James Hamilton
Does the Minister recognise that during the period of the Labour Government there was a tremendous amount of carping criticism from the then Conservative Opposition? Does he recognise that for three months there has been a decrease in Scottish unemployment? Will he give an assurance that there will be further decreases during the Government's period of office, bearing in mind the redundancies now taking place?

§ Mr. Younger
I wish that I could expect the unemployment levels in Scotland to go down. There has been a welcome reduction this month. Unfortunately, even that reduction has not yet wiped out the serious increases in January and February of this year. We must tackle that problem now. But quick results cannot be produced from the situation.

§ Mr. McQuarrie
When my right hon. Friend meets the STUC, will he impress upon it that the Government will not tolerate the blackmail tactics laid out this weekend by NUPE, that we intend to ensure that the promises we made to the electorate as to what we would do in the life of this Parliament will be fulfilled, and that we shall do without being instructed by the unions by blackmailing tactics and threats?

§ Mr. Younger
I am grateful to my hon. Friend. We have the responsibility of 1038 being the Government. We intend to carry out our programme in that way.

§ Mr. Gregor MacKenzie
Will the Minister take this opportunity to clarify the situation on the dispersal of Civil Service jobs to Scotland, Wales and the English regions? Confusion arose in the election campaign when the right hon. Gentleman's supporters and friends in London were saying one thing whereas his predecessor as leader of the Conservative Party in Scotland was saying another. May we have a specific assurance from the right hon. Gentleman that the statement made by my right hon. Friend the Member for Sheffield, Park (Mr. Mulley) still stands?

§ Mr. Younger
No changes have been made in the position left to us by the previous Government, and our stand on this matter has been well understood for some time.