HC Deb 15 November 1984 vol 67 cc790-1
17. Mr. Eggar

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether the economic recovery is creating new jobs.

Mr. Lawson

The number of people in work is estimated to have risen by about ¼ million in the year to June 1984 and I expect it to continue rising in 1985.

Mr. Eggar

Given the expected growth rate and the increase in the number of people of working age, does my right hon. Friend think it likely that unemployment will fall in the course of this Parliament, and what additional measures does he intend to take to ensure that it does?

Mr. Lawson

As I have said many times, the Government's economic policy is designed to create conditions which will allow more new jobs to emerge. Governments do not directly create jobs. Business and industry create jobs. Our task is to create a climate in which they can create the new jobs that are needed, and that is what we are doing.

Mr. Douglas

Few of us would grudge the Chancellor any crumb of comfort in relation to the economy, but as he takes that credit against a background of established regional policy, especially in relation to regional development grants, why do the Government wish to interfere with a policy that is bringing even a microscopic amount of success?

Mr. Lawson

The new regional development grant policy to be announced later this month will, among other things, be more job-related than the existing system.

Mr. Yeo

Does my right hon. Friend agree that to the extent that the miners' strike has retarded economic recovery this year, Arthur Scargill has been destroying other workers' jobs?

Mr. Lawson

My hon. Friend is quite right. Mr. Scargill has destroyed jobs in a number of industries, both directly and indirectly, by causing interest rates to be higher than they otherwise would be. He is also threatening the whole future of the coal industry, so the sooner the strike is over. the better.

Mr. Hattersley

The Chancellor has refused to respond to invitations from both sides to estimate unemployment levels during this Parliament. Will he now deny the generally held view that, with present policies, there will be no significant fall in unemployment during this Parliament?

Mr. Lawson

I do not intend to make any assertion about unemployment in the lifetime of this Parliament. I recall that when the right hon. Member for Birmingham, Sparkbrook (Mr. Hattersley) was a Minister he, too, studiously refrained from making forecasts about unemployment in the lifetime of a Parliament.