§ 9. Mr. Andersonasked the Secretary of State for Wales if he will give the percentages of male unemployment for Wales, West Glamorgan and Swansea at the latest available date and in May 1979.
§ Mr. Nicholas EdwardsOn 9 September 1982, 19.9 per cent., 18.9 per cent. and 20.5 per cent., respectively, and in May 1979, 8.5 per cent., 7.4 per cent. and 8.3 per cent.
§ Mr. AndersonDo not those appalling figures, during the period that the Secretary of State has been in office, show the deterioration and destruction of much of our manufacturing base in West Glamorgan and Swansea? Does the right hon. Gentleman accept any responsibility for that massive decline?
§ Mr. EdwardsWe can at least take one crumb of comfort from this depressing situation. Although Wales has borne a share of the steel closures, and although it has always suffered when unemployment has been high throughout the United Kingdom, on this occasion unemployment has not increased anything like as fast in Wales as it has in the United Kingdom as a whole.