§ 18. Mr. Greville Jannerasked the Secretary of State for Employment whether he will now take further steps to remedy the high unemployment rates suffered by ethnic minorities and, in particular, Asian women.
§ Mr. AlisonThe Government's special employment measures already help many unemployed people from the ethnic minorities. My Department and the Manpower Services Commission try to see that the minorities get full benefit from these measures. The real hope for all unemployed people lies in the success of our economic policies.
§ Mr. JannerMay I suggest that the real hope for the unemployed is for the Government to be defeated at the general election? Is the Minister aware that the Government's failure to deal with unemployment, particularly among black and Asian minorities, is as dangerous as it is deeply resented?
§ Mr. AlisonThe hon. and learned Gentleman will be aware that a great effort is made, particularly by the Manpower Services Commission, to give special encouragement and help to members of the ethnic minority groups to find work and obtain training and other forms of encouragement to get work. Indeed, they are disproportionately represented in the schemes in relation to their proportion in the total population.
§ Mr. FarrDoes my right hon. Friend agree that the present situation is the outcome of a lax and ineffective Government immigration policy, which is causing such pressure on jobs in the Leicester area?
§ Mr. AlisonI dispute that. Unemployment, particularly among Asian women, has risen sharply in recent years, due to largely to the decline of the textile and light engineering industries.