HC Deb 15 December 1980 vol 996 cc11-2
10. Mr. Roy Hughes

asked the Secretary of State for Wales if he has had any recent discussions with the chairman of the British Steel Corporation concerning reorganisation proposals.

Mr. Nicholas Edwards

I have had discussions with Mr. MacGregor on a number of occasions recently, and his officials and mine keep regularly in touch.

Mr. Hughes

The Secretary of State cannot afford to be complacent when another 5,000 steel jobs in Wales have gone. Does he appreciate that Llanwern and Port Talbot have merely been reprieved, not saved? What the Government should be doing now is reflating the economy and discarding their outdated witch-doctor economic theories.

Mr. Edwards

Llanwern and Port Talbot have been reprieved—if that is the right word—because of their performance in recent months and their response to slim line. I understand that the chairman is saying that their future survival will depend on the continuing competitiveness and success of their operations.

Mr. Jeffrey Thomas

Is the Secretary of State aware, particularly in view of his cheap and snide remarks earlier about my right hon. Friend the Member for Ebbw Vale (Mr. Foot), that if the plans go forward there will be in the Blaenau-Gwent area an escalation of unemployment from the present 17.1 per cent. to over 21 per cent.? Does he not agree that that would be totally unacceptable? What does he propose to do about it?

Mr. Edwards

I do not think that it is cheap or snide to remind the House that when the Leader of the Opposition, who is the Member of Parliament for the area, was in Government unemployment rose from 3.9 per cent. to 13.3 per cent. in his constituency. That shows that there are no cheap and simple solutions to the problems. The right hon. Gentleman failed to find them, and I do not pretend that they can be found overnight. There is a massive programme to attract industry to the area, and it is meeting with some success, despite the bad image that so many people put about.

Mr. D. E. Thomas

Will the right hon. Gentleman stop hiding behind Mr. Ian MacGregor and the Secretary of State for Industry and tell us precisely what his role is in discussions, what input the Welsh Office has to the BSC strategy, and whether he will be involved this week in the ministerial discussions?

Mr. Edwards

The first meeting that Mr. MacGregor is having with the Government to discuss his corporate plan is on Wednesday, when he is meeting my right hon. Friends the Secretary of State for Industry, the Secretary of State for Employment and the Secretary of State for Scotland and me to present the plan in detail. That is the first meeting. I shall be at it.