§ 8. Mr. Canavanasked the Secretary of State for Employment what is the total number of registered unemployed in the United Kingdom and the latest estimate of the unregistered unemployed.
§ Mr. TebbitAt 14 April the number of unemployed claimants in the United Kingdom was 3,169,879.
The 1981 European Community labour force survey estimates that in Great Britain in the second quarter of 1981, 400,000 people were seeking work but were not registered as unemployed.
The same survey suggests that at that time some 400,000 of the registered unemployed were not actively looking for work.
§ Mr. CanavanDoes the Secretary of State remember that in the 1979 election campaign the Tory party used Saatchi and Saatchi to plaster posters all over the country telling people "Labour isn't working"? Will the Secretary of State for unemployment use Saatchi and Saatchi this time to tell people the truth—that this Tory Government have increased unemployment by more than 160 per cent. and that the best way to get rid of mass unemployment is to get rid of this rotten Tory Government and replace them with a Labour Government committed to getting our people back to work?
§ Mr. TebbitI certainly remember the last election campaign, at which the Government were returned. I look forward to the next one with eager anticipation. I take note of what the hon. Gentleman says, but he must always remember that every Labour Government, from that under whom I was born and who cost my father his job, have left office with a higher toll of unemployed than when they entered office. The last Labour Government were no exception and any future Labour Government would no doubt have the same record if we were foolish enough to contemplate one.
§ Sir Peter EmeryHow many jobs have been created by small firms in small industries during the past 12 to 18 months? Are not those jobs, provided without subsidy from Her Majesty's Government, likely to be long-term jobs?
§ Mr. TebbitI am not able to give my hon. Friend that figure, partly because the gathering of statistics on the 722 creation of new jobs is not nearly as effective as our recording of unemployment statistics.—[Interruption.]— The right hon. Member for Chesterfield (Mr. Varley) may find that funny, but he will have read the Employment Gazette, which recently showed that we have seriously underestimated the number of people in employment. I cannot give my hon. Friend the figure for which he asks, but since I last answered oral questions on 12 April some 7,883 jobs are recorded as having been created. Many more jobs have been created beyond those, and I will happily give my hon. Friend a list of those that have appeared.
§ Mr. Ioan EvansThe Secretary of State keeps quoting figures, but will he say yes or no to the fact that he has presided over the highest number of unemployed that we have seen in this contry since figures were kept?
§ Mr. TebbitYes; and I regret that I have that in common with a number of other Employment Ministers scattered across the world. This problem has affected many countries. I have it, in common with Ministers who are presiding over the highest levels of unemployment in their countries. I remind the hon. Member for Keighley (Mr. Cryer) that the increase in unemployment since May 1979 has been higher in Germany, Norway and the Netherlands.
§ Mr. Barry JonesUntrue.
§ Mr. TebbitThe hon. Gentleman says "Untrue". The latest figures available, using seasonally adjusted national definitions, show that between May 1979 and April 1983, German unemployment rose by 165 per cent.; between May 1979 and December 1982, unemployment in the Netherlands rose by 193 per cent.; from May 1979 to February 1983 unemployment in Norway rose by 144 per cent.; and in the United Kingdom from May 1979 to April 1983 unemployment rose by 143 per cent. The total numbers are larger because the Labour Govenment left a bigger toll of unemployment here than was inherited by the German Government.
§ Mr. John TownendWill my right hon. Friend give the estimated number of unemployed who are actually working in the black economy?
§ Mr. TebbitMy hon. Friend asks a question which it is impossible to answer. If we were able to identify those working in the black economy, we would follow up the matter and bring them into the white economy.
§ Mr. VarleyWill the Secretary of State confirm that he will be the first Secretary of State since the war under whom the number of people in work has been fewer than when he took office? Secondly, will he confirm that he personally was responsible for advising the Prime Minister to scuttle to a June election because the unemployment figures in September will rise dramatically?
§ Mr. TebbitThe right hon. Gentleman knows full well the statistics that he quotes. I think that I must quote something to him. — [HON. MEMBERS: "Answer the question."] I am going to answer the question.
The 1½ million unemployed is entirely due to an expansion of the work force in Britain. And over the next decade an additional 1½ million more will be in the labour force. That leaves, even with improved growth in the economy, us facing a possible 3 million unemployed by the end of the 1980s. To try to blame this on a mishandling by any Government, Tory or Labour, does not get us very far.723 Those are the words of the hon. Member for Renfrewshire, West (Mr. Buchan), quoted in the Glasgow Herald on 4 August 1978.