§ 4. Mr. Knoxasked the Secretary of State for Employment how many people were out of work in the Leek parliamentary constituency at the most recent count; and what was the comparable figure in the same month in 1974.
§ Mr. AlisonIn the area covered by the Biddulph, Cheadle, Kidsgrove, and Leek employment offices, which corresponds closely to the Leek parliamentary constituency, 5,407 people were registered as unemployed at January 1982. The corresponding figure at January 1974 was 668.
§ Mr. KnoxHow does my right hon. Friend explain a more than eightfold increase in unemployment in an area where wages and salaries are, and have been, low, productivity high and labour relations excellent?
§ Mr. AlisonThe clue lies in what happened nationally to unit labour costs during the period of the Labour Government. British unit labour costs doubled, whereas in Japan they did not go up. That is the full explanation for the high national level of unemployment as well as the regrettable local level of unemployment in the Leek constituency.
§ Mr. GoldingWhy, then, has the pottery industry lost 40 per cent. of its jobs? Was there high pay, bad industrial relations, lack of export drive and lack of managerial initiative be fore 1974? Does the Minister realise that the level of unemployment in my constituency and that of the hon. Member for Leek (Mr. Knox) has risen from about 4 to 13.3 per cent. since the general election?
§ Mr. AlisonThe pottery industry would undoubtedly have been affectd by the oil price increase, as it is an industry that uses firing processes. The hon. Gentleman will know that, since 1973, the price of oil has gone up by 2,000 per cent. and by about three times since 1979 alone. High costs not compensated for by higher productivity have priced many British products out of the market.
§ Mr. Nicholas WintertonIs my right hon. Friend aware—as I am, since I represent a constituency that virtually adjoins the constituencies of the hon. Member for Newcastle-under-Lyme (Mr. Golding) and my hon. Friend the Member for Leek (Mr. Knox) —that unemployment in our area has increased not as a result of a lack of competitiveness but as a result of unfair competition from abroad? When will the Government take steps to ensure that British industry, which has shown moderation, good sense and good managerial skills, can compete fairly against the countries that are taking our jobs?
§ Mr. AlisonMy hon. Friend must be referring to the textile industry. He will know that the Government have taken a firm line in defence of the British textile industry in the negotiations for the new MFA.
§ Mr. SkinnerIs the Minister aware that although jobs have been lost in the pottery and textile industries and the many associated industries in and around the North Midlands, the casino economy belt, which includes financial institutions, building societies and estate agencies in areas such as Leek and Macclesfield, has mushroomed? Does that not show that jobs are being lost in manufacturing industry because of the massively high interest rates operated by the Government?
§ Mr. AlisonThe hon. Gentleman must come to terms with the cause of the high unemployment. That cause is simple to explain. During the period of the Labour Government British unit labour costs doubled. In Japan they did not increase, in Germany they increased by one fifth, in the United States of America they increased by one-third, and in Canada they increased by about one half. In Britain, unit labour costs doubled. The root cause of the present high levels of unemployment lies firmly in the period of the Labour Government.