HC Deb 20 November 1984 vol 68 cc138-9
7. Mr. Andrew MacKay

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on the current level of unemployment.

19. Mr. Yeo

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what is the current level of unemployment.

Mr. Alan Clark

At 11 October the number of unemployed claimants in the United Kingdom was 3,225,000. That figure is disappointingly high. The creation of sustainable employment depends on a healthy economy, competitive industry and a flexible labour market. Our policies are directed to those ends, and we continue to look for ways of building on what has been achieved.

Mr. MacKay

Is my hon. Friend worried that employment opportunities created by the Government's excellent decision to abolish the national insurance surcharge on 1 October will be jeopardised by inflationary and irresponsible wage claims in the private sector?

Mr. Clark

That is regrettably a factor which Opposition Members never seem to consider. They wax indignant about unemployment figures but never ask themselves whether there has ever been an excessive wage claim which led to an increase in the labour force employed.

Mr. Yeo

Does my hon. Friend agree that many smaller businesses have considerable potential for job creation but are deterred from taking on new labour by the existence of onerous employment legislation, the abolition of which would not cost the Government a single penny?

Mr. Clark

Certainly there is scope for examining the burden of legislation on small businesses. My hon. Friend will appreciate that we have a duty always to bear in mind considerations relating to health and safety and the maintenance of standards that would benefit the work force.

Mr. Leighton

Is the Minister aware that in the London borough of Newham 1,879 young people have never had a job, and that of those, 1,016 are 18 and over? Has he the least idea what that means for morale, drug abuse and crime? What message can I give them from the Government, after five years of Tory policies? Shall I tell them that the present position is what was intended? Is it a success or a failure? Does the Minister care about the future of those young people?

Mr. Clark

If the hon. Gentleman had heard the answer given by my hon. Friend the Minister of State, he would know that there is no reason why anyone of that age in Newham should not have had either a job or training experience. The message that I recommend him to give them is to restrain those in Militant Tendency and other similar persuasions, who never cease to talk down Government initiatives, schemes and other measures in that area, and to examine and take advantage of those opportunities.

Mr. Heffer

Does the Minister agree that it is a bit thick for Conservative Members, who are well-fed, well-heeled, well looked after and who, in the main, have never worked for their living, to talk about high wages putting people out of work? Is he aware that in part of Merseyside, where there is high unemployment, people earn the lowest wages in the country and that, therefore, unemployment is forcing wages down? What reply do the Government have to that?

Mr. Clark

I know nothing about the hon. Gentleman's heels, nor about how well-fed he is. I can only say that Liverpool city council, which has tried determinedly to exclude private enterprise and private capital, is drawing the fire of the community groups and the trades councils within its purview. The council must recognise that its action offers the best route to increasing unemployment in that city.