HC Deb 26 November 1980 vol 994 cc426-8
9. Mr. Foulkes

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland which invitations to attend meetings to discuss unemployment in Scotland or in Ayrshire he has been able to accept.

Mr. Younger

I have accepted numerous such invitations throughout Scotland, including Ayrshire.

Mr. Foulkes

Does not the Secretary of State realise that, with unemployment in Scotland now running at 11.3 per cent., in Ayr at 12 per cent. and in Cumnock at 15½ per cent., everyone in Scotland thinks that his attitude is one of total complacency? It is no good his going round Scotland smiling like a Cheshire cat. It is about time that the right hon. Gentleman took some action in the Cabinet to change the policies that are causing the unemployment in Scotland.

Mr. Younger

I begin to wonder whether the hon. Member for South Ayrshire (Mr. Foulkes) has given any thought to what the causes are. They are the long-term weakening of competitiveness in our industry, resulting from the policies advocated by the hon. Gentleman and his right hon. and hon. Friends. The whole basis of the strategy which the Government are following is to make our industry more competitive so that it can take on more people again.

Mr. Ancram

I agree that the present unemployment level in Scotland is unacceptable in the long term, but does my right hon. Friend agree that the fact that the unemployment level relative between Scotland and the rest of the United Kingdom is now moving in Scotland's favour shows that Scotland is riding out the recession rather better than its neighbours, and that this is a sign of hope for the future?

Mr. Younger

I agree that unemployment is of major concern to us, whatever its level. My hon. Friend is right when he says that it appears that Scotland-is riding out this difficult time rather better than the rest of Britain, and I am very glad about that.

Mr. Lambie

Is the Secretary of State aware that we do not need any more meetings to discuss unemployment in Ayrshire? We need only to go home and see every factory round about us closing down to appreciate the gravity of the position. We need action by the Secretary of State. How can the right hon. Gentleman remain in the Cabinet and as the Member of Parliament for Ayr when he sees the unemployment and the closure of factories around him? How can he justify an 18.2 per cent. rate of unemployment in my area—a so-called growth area in Ayrshire—and remain Secretary of State for Scotland?

Mr. Younger

I remain there with the determination to do something about it. That is the nature of my responsibility. The first thing for me to do, in order to do something about it, is to understand why it has happened. It has happened because policies such as those advocated by the hon. Member for Central Ayrshire (Mr. Lambie) have weakened British industry for years. That is what we have to put right.

Mr. Allan Stewart

Will my right hon. Friend congratulate Councillor Dick Stewart, leader of the Strathclyde regional council, on swiftly and totally rejecting the outrageous suggestion by the hon. Member for South Ayrshire (Mr. Foulkes) that Strathclyde region should give a massive £1 million handout for jobs at Stonefield to be financed by a rate surcharge, which would threaten jobs everywhere else in Strathclyde? Does not my right hon. Friend agree that that suggestion was both the height of impudence and the economics of the madhouse?

Mr. Younger

I am very grateful to my hon. Friend.

Mr. Lambie

Give him a job.

Mr. Younger

If I had to choose between the views of Councillor Dick Stewart and those of the hon. Member for South Ayrshire, I think I know which I should choose.

Mr. Foulkes

I thank the right hon. Gentleman!

Mr. Gordon Wilson

Is it not correct that, when the Secretary of State accepted office, he said that his first priority as Secretary of State would be to maintain employment in Scotland? Since then, has not the fall guy been his hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State responsible for these matters? What proposals has the Secretary of State in mind to try to change the economic picture before factory after factory closes and there is nothing left to revive in Scotland, even if his Government's policies prove successful, which is doubtful?

Mr. Younger

It is the top priority in what I have to tackle. I was not chosen to do this job to run away from it, nor would I be thanked for doing so. My job is to do my best to put matters right. The way to do that is to get British industry competitive once more so that we do not have our goods undercut by foreigners who are able to do it because they have lower rates of inflation than we have.

Mr. Millan

When will the Secretary of State accept personal responsibility for the present disgraceful unemployment figures in Scotland instead of trying to blame everyone else? Is he not aware of the widespread despair and despondency in Scottish industry, much of which is already on its knees? Why are the Government so intent on deliberately destroying jobs and, at the same time, spending thousands of millions of pounds on unemployment benefit? Is not this economic and financial madness?

Mr. Younger

I am very surprised to be lectured by the right hon. Member for Glasgow, Craigton (Mr. Millan) on this matter, as he sat around in the Scottish Office while unemployment doubled during his time there. I had hoped that the right hon. Gentleman would understand, if no one else did, the main reason why unemployment was going up. As an accountant, he ought to understand that if we go on bleeding the private sector with excessive public spending more businesses will go wrong, and not fewer.