§ 11. Mr. MacKenzieasked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement on the current level of employment in the west of Scotland.
§ Mr. RifkindMost of Strathclyde benefits from development area status, and I am encouraged by the 18,100 new jobs associated with offers of new regional development grant in Strathclyde in the year to end September. In addition, several area initiatives are currently under way in the region.
§ Mr. MacKenzieIs the Secretary of State aware that, while he might be quite content with the figures in Strathclyde, no one else is? My colleagues and I have sat in this Chamber for the past three quarters of an hour listening to many slick answers on unemployment. Not one answer will give any comfort to the thousands of people in Scotland who are unemployed. As for the right hon. and learned Gentleman's answers on the regional development fund application, I am bound to say that I 1159 have never heard such nonsense and rubbish in the time I have been a Member of Parliament. The documents were submitted by the DTI with a voice from the Secretary of State for Scotland. If there is to be only a plateau in the unemployment rate over the next decade, surely to goodness the Secretary of State should be man enough to stand up and admit that the Government have made mistakes in policy and that something must be done now to change it.
§ Mr. RifkindI am not sure what comfort the unemployed will have received from the right hon. Gentleman's question. There was not one constructive item in his question, despite his protests to the contrary. I am not saying to the right hon. Gentleman that the Government are content with the level of unemployment in Strathclyde. The right hon. Gentleman knows perfectly well that when he was in government unemployment in Strathclyde went up dramatically. He knows perfectly well that it has continued to do so since he ceased to be a Minister. The right hon. Gentleman might be more impressive if he were prepared to admit the failings of the Government of which he was a member.
§ Mr. FoulkesDoes the Secretary of State remember that he and I spent part of the first day of the Labour party conference inside a disused brick kiln in Waterside in the Doon Valley? That area has the highest level of unemployment, not just in Strathclyde and Scotland, but in the whole of Europe. Does the Secretary of State recall the constructive proposals that were put to him by Cadet, the enterprise trust, the local authority and the Dalmellington trust? Has he had time to consider the proposals? Can he say something positive today? If not, when will he be able to say something positive to give some hope to the people of the Doon Valley?
§ Mr. RifkindI do recall that memorable experience in the hon. Gentleman's constituency. I have a sense of guilt at keeping him away from his Labour party conference. I found the visit extremely helpful. Many suggestions were made, especially regarding the role of the Scottish Development Agency in the area represented by the hon. Gentleman. I have had an opportunity to have informal discussions with the agency on some of the matters raised by the hon. Gentleman.