§ 13. Mr. Flanneryasked the Secretary of State for Employment what calculation he has made of the numbers of people, in particular women, who, although unemployed, are not registered as such.
§ Mr. MayhewNo such calculaton has been made by my right hon. Friend. However, the general household survey and the EC labour force survey suggest that about .33 million people, including ¼ million women, may be seeking work though not registered as unemployed and that about two-thirds of those women want work that is part-time.
§ Mr. FlanneryDoes not the hon. and learned Gentleman realise that the real figure of unemployed is much closer to 3 million than the figure given earlier today? Does that not make the disaster far more catastrophic? What will be done in order to put cash into dying industry — the de-industrialisation of steel, for instance—in order to bring people back into work?
§ Mr. MayhewThe putting of public money into industries that are dying because they have lost their markets — for example, because the markets had disappeared — will not bring down the level of the unemployed. There is only one way in which to bring down the level of the unemployed, and that is for industry to get its house in order and for this country's housekeeping to be put on a sound basis.