HC Deb 02 June 1981 vol 5 c771
15. Mr. Dykes

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will discuss with his European counterparts the possibility of a special Council of Ministers meeting on unemployment in the Community.

Mr. Waddington

Unemployment was one of the major issues discussed at the meeting of the European Council in Maastricht on 23–24 March, and also at an informal meeting of Community Employment Ministers on 6–7 April. I expect the next meeting of the Council of Ministers, Labour and Social Affairs, to have an opportunity to consider a Commission paper on the problems of unemployment.

Mr. Dykes

I thank my hon. and learned Friend for that reply. Bearing in mind the shocking total of 8 million unemployed in the Community, will he undertake to examine the possibility of joint stimulatory action in the member States to try to reduce unemployment as soon as possible?

Mr. Waddington

I have no doubt that this is one of the matters that will be discussed during coming meetings and especially when the Commission's paper is discussed.

Mr. John Grant

Did the British Government's representative acknowledge at the meeting of the Council of Ministers to which the hon. and learned Gentleman referred that unemployment in Britain during the past 12 months has risen at a faster rate than in any country in the developed world? If so, will the Minister tell us why that has happened?

Mr. Waddington

I am sure that all those present discussed the problems that are being faced by their respective countries as a result of the world recession. I have no doubt that our Minister made it plain that for many years, largely because of our own folly, we have allowed ourselves to become less and less competitive.

Mr. Ashley

Is the hon. and learned Gentleman aware that an important part of the Community's unemployment is in Stoke-on-Trent, where the rate has doubled during the past year? Am I now to tell those people that the Government's response to the charge of creating unemployment is that they are not guilty due to diminished responsibility?

Mr. Waddington

The right hon. Gentleman knows that when the Government took office they inherited unemployment of 1½ million. He knows that the trend was a rising one. He knew that the deep-seated ills of the British economy would not be removed or cured in a short time.