§ 18. Mr. Canavanasked the Secretary of State for Industry whether he has any plans for initiatives to stop the reduction of Great Britain's industrial base.
§ Sir Keith JosephThe industrial base can flourish only to the extent that it profitably satisfies customers at home and abroad. The Government have their part to play.
We have begun to reduce inflation, to restore incentives, and to dismantle some of the obstacles to enterprise. It is for industry to achieve greater competitiveness, based on entrepreneurial management, sensible wage settlements and improved productivity and design. That is the only way we can reverse Britain's relative industrial decline.
§ Mr. CanavanIn view of today's report that Britain has the worst unemployment record in the Common Market, with a 70 per cent. increase during the past year, and that one reason for that is that vast areas are daily being turned into deindustrialised deserts, will the Secretary of State intervene now to ensure more public enterprise and more public investment in industry, because otherwise there will soon be no industrial base left in Britain?
§ Sir Keith JosephThere is a high unemployment rate now because for years and years, and largely encouraged by Labour Governments, we have had the worst overmanning rate in Western Europe. If we were to move towards more public rather than private enterprise, we would run into the danger of even greater overmanning, because, among the overmanners, public enterprise has a far worse record than private enterprise.
§ Mr. Kenneth LewisDoes not my right hon. Friend agree that the Government have already done a great deal to help the base of British industry by, for example, giving money to ensure that a slimmed-down British Leyland becomes more profitable, giving money to British Steel to ensure that it will be in a similar position in a year or two, and giving money to British Rail and other basic industries? Does my right hon. Friend agree that the trouble is that the Government keep apologising for doing those things, instead of taking credit for them?
§ Sir Keith JosephThe cost of doing those things, which have some good consequences, is that interest rates and taxation are likely to be higher than if we did not have to do them.
§ Mr. OrmeIn a broadcast yesterday the Secretary of State spoke about the numbers leaving the unemployment register. Will he tell the House about those joining the register as a result of his policies? Will he also say when the much forecast upturn will take place in industry, because it appears to be as far off as it has been for many a month?
§ Sir Keith JosephThe gap between those joining the register because they have voluntarily or involuntarily left their jobs and those leaving the register because they have found new jobs has dwindled during recent months. The number of those joining the register is running at 87,000 a week, and the number of those leaving the register is running at 70,000 a week which is a smaller gap than in previous months.
§ Mr. OrmeWill the right hon. Gentleman explain why unemployment is increasing at its present rate?
§ Sir Keith JosephThe level of unemployment will continue to increase while more people come on to the register because they are unemployed than there are people leaving the register. Surely the right hon. Gentleman could have worked that out for himself.