HC Deb 30 March 1983 vol 40 cc327-9
2. Mr. Robert Hughes

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the latest number of unemployed in Scotland; and if he will make a statement.

The Under-Secretary of State for Scotland (Mr. Alexander Fletcher)

On 10 February 1983, seasonally adjusted unemployment in Scotland stood provisionally at 316,900 persons, an unemployment rate of 14.6 per cent. The rate of increase in unemployment has slowed down during the past year, which shows, with other evidence, that our economic strategy is having effect. My right hon. and learned Friend the Chancellor in his Budget speech announced further help for the unemployed as well as various measures to assist industrial growth.

Mr. Hughes

Will the Under-Secretary of State confirm that while he has been in office 192,000 more people have joined the unemployment queue in Scotland, representing for every miserable day of his existence, including Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays, 260 people with no hope of work? For how long will he preside over the shamful destruction of the future of Scottish people, and when will he adopt an alternative policy of hope and expansion?

Mr. Fletcher

My right hon. Friend and I have said several times that we deplore the high rate of unemployment in Scotland, but, unlike those of the Labour party, our policies are aimed at reducing unemployment. The Labour party policy document published yesterday would increase unemployment in Scotland by several hundred thousand, because of the withdrawal from Europe and further nationalisation.

Mr. Grimond

Does the Minister agree that as the consumption of whisky is falling and unemployment in distilling is increasing, this is an especially lunatic moment to increase whisky duty?

Mr. Fletcher

The increase in duty is well below the level of inflation during the past two years. The whisky industry has not been treated badly in this respect, and more recently it has benefited by about £100 million through measures agreed by the Chancellor.

Sir Russell Fairgrieve

Is it not true that since the end of the second world war every time a Labour Administration held office unemployment was higher when they left office than when they entered? Does my hon. Friend see any reason why that should change in the foreseeable future?

Mr. Fletcher

My hon. Friend is correct. The policy document published yesterday shows that Labour has learnt nothing from its mistakes.

Mr. Gordon Wilson

Does the Minister agree that the only word that can apply to the impact of the Government's economic policies during the past four years is "disaster"? If he is criticising the Labour party for planning to spend many billions of pounds that it does not have and must borrow from abroad, would it not be appropriate for him to press the Treasury to give back the £7 billion or £8 billion of oil revenues that Scotland needs and deserves to have attributed to it?

Mr. Fletcher

Scotland benefits a great deal from the nation's oil revenue.

Mr. George Robertson

Is the Minister aware that unemployment in Lanarkshire is now almost one in four of the adult population, and that leaflets are circulating in my constituency claiming that the saving of Ravenscraig was a triumph for Lanarkshire, Scotland and the Conservatives? Will he now answer my right hon. Friend's question? If the MacGregor plan comes before Ministers and it suggests the destruction of the strip mill at Gartcosh as part of a deal with the Americans, will the Secretary of State reject that plan, or will he resign?

Mr. Fletcher

As my right hon. Friend said, if a proposal comes before the Government it will be considered carefully, as the right hon. Member for Glasgow, Craigton (Mr. Milian) said he would do. He believes that no Government could refuse to consider any proposal to increase the performance of the British steel industry. However, Ministers must decide the future of Ravenscraig, along the lines of the MacGregor plan that is currently being discussed in the newspapers.