§ 5. Mr. Allan Robertsasked the Secretary of State for Employment how many people are currently unemployed; and what that is as a proportion of the labour force.
§ Mr. Tom KingOn 10 January 1985 the number of unemployed claimants in the United Kingdom was 3,341,000. This represents an unemployment rate of 13.9 per cent.
§ Mr. RobertsIs the Secretary of State aware that those devastatingly bad figures hide a much worse situation in many of the regions? In the Merseyside travel-to-work area, for instance, 20 per cent. of registered active males are unemployed, and the situation is even worse in the inner city areas. Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that the population of Merseyside is falling, so a bigger percentage of the work force is unemployed, rather than the other way round? Is he further aware that although Merseyside is one of the areas of lowest pay, that low pay has not provided anyone with a job? Indeed, the opposite is true. When will the Government introduce policies to reduce unemployment throughout the country, and especially on Merseyside?
§ Mr. KingI am aware that the situation is significantly worse in some parts of the country than in others. The hon. Gentleman talks as though a wand could be waved. He is almost looking in the direction of his right hon. Friend the Member for Blaenau Gwent (Mr. Foot), who found that no wand was available to enable even him to prevent the sharp rise in unemployment. I hope that the hon. Gentleman will take pleasure in observing that in the past year the number of those in work has increased by 340,000, and that at last we have turned the corner in the creation of more jobs.
§ Mrs. RumboldHow many people are employed in this country, and what proportion of the work force does that figure represent?
§ Mr. KingI shall reply in percentage terms. Comparisons of unemployment rates are interesting. The unemployment rate in Italy used to be just under 10 per cent., but it is significant that only 55 per cent. of those of working age are in work. Sixty-six per cent. of our population are at work, and that is a higher proportion than in France, Germany or Italy.
§ Mr. LeightonIt is futile for the Secretary of State to misrepresent the figures in that way. When my right hon. Friend the Member for Blaenau Gwent (Mr. Foot) left office, 300,000 more people were in employment than when the Labour Government came to office. There are now nearly 2 million fewer people in employment than there were when the present Government came to office. Why does the right hon. Gentleman seek to misrepresent the truth?
§ Mr. KingThe hon. Gentleman knows perfectly well that unemployment rose sharply. His hon. Friend the Member for Bootle (Mr. Roberts) has challenged us for failing to take instant action to correct it. He knows that fewer people are employed under Socialist Governments in Italy and France at present than there were four years ago. [Interruption.] It is no good shouting and screaming about a problem which the whole country realises to be far more serious than the Opposition suggest.
§ Sir Dudley SmithIs it not true that more jobs are being advertised both locally and nationally than there were three or four years ago, but that, unfortunately, nearly all of them require qualifications? Is that not a lesson which the young, in particular, should learn?
§ Mr. KingIt is certainly true that even in the north-east, which I visited last week, where there is serious unemployment, the first complaints that I heard from employers were about skill shortages. That fact brings home very clearly the importance of our work to improve the training programme.
§ Mr. PrescottDoes the right hon. Gentleman agree that the fiddled answers that he has just given are like the Government's fiddled figures on unemployment, which are at least 500,000 less than the real figure? Does he agree that in this alleged third year of economic recovery unemployment is at unprecedentedly high levels, that employment is at unprecedentedly low levels and that unemployment has increased by 2,500 a week while the Conservatives have been in office? The right hon. Gentleman's time in office has been crowned by a record level of unemployment in the January figures. What is the Secretary of State's estimate of unemployment in January, and how many will be included for the mining industry if the Government's policy of closing down pits is forced through?
§ Mr. KingThe hon. Gentleman cannot have listened to the answers that I gave. We do not have an unprecedentedly low level of employment. We have just turned the corner, and there were 340,000 more jobs in the past year to September 1984.
§ Mr. PrescottSince when?
§ Mr. KingSince September 1983. That is the last year for which we have figures. After years of job losses, we 765 now have a rise in employment. As regards the miners, expensive fuels produced from uneconomic pits would give the worst possible blow to competitiveness and employment.