§ 8. Mr. Hendersonasked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement about the relative prosperity of Scotland compared with the rest of Great Britain.
§ Mr. LangThe standard of living of most Scots compares favourably with most of the rest of Great Britain. In terms of average male weekly earnings, the latest figures for 1985 show that only the south-east fared better.
§ Mr. HendersonDoes this not show that a Conservative Government are good for the Scots, especially since, under this Government, those who depend upon health, social and other vital services such as education receive more per head of the population in Scotland than they do south of the border?
§ Mr. LangMy hon. Friend is right as regards identifiable public expenditure. He may also wish to know that in terms of gross domestic product per head and personal disposable income, Scotland lies third in the list of regions in the United Kingdom.
§ Mr. James HamiltonThe hon. Gentleman will be aware that since the new year statement by the Secretary of State for Scotland on the potential boom in Scotland the Caterpillar tractor company has decided to draw stumps and close the factory en bloc. Since then there have been further redundancies in my constituency. Is it not about time that we had a statement from the Minister or from the Secretary of State as to the Government's intentions in respect of Caterpillar?
§ Mr. LangMy right hon. and learned Friend's views about Caterpillar are well know. However, I am glad to say that what happened with Caterpillar does not reflect the general view of overseas companies with regard to investment in Scotland. During the past seven years about £1.8 billion of inward investment has been attracted to Scotland.
§ Mr. FallonWill my hon. Friend confirm that last year identifiable public expenditure per head was 27 per cent. higher in Scotland than it was in England and that housing 305 expenditure per head was about 90 per cent. higher? Is it not time that this tartan featherbedding was subject to an independent audit?
§ Mr. LangIdentifiable public expenditure has been higher in Scotland in several areas, reflecting the special needs of Scotland which my hon. Friend, as a Member of the United Kingdom Parliament, would wish to support.
§ Mr. DouglasWill the Minister reflect on the fact that in the 1960s we were worried that Scotland had too large a share of the old and declining industries and not enough of the new dynamic industries, but that under the Conservative Government there has been a huge diminution in the older established industries such as coal, steel and shipbuilding and not enough growth, even with all the advantages of North sea oil, in the new dynamic industries? There is also an absence in Scotland of decision-making headquarters of companies. Does the Minister concede that a regional policy which suits the south-east of England does not necessarily suit Scotland, which should have a more independent view of its economic future?
§ Mr. LangI am glad to assure the hon. Gentleman that the number of people self-employed in Scotland has increased by about a quarter during the past seven years. Although there has been a loss of jobs in manufacturing industry, it is significant that output has been almost hack at the 1979 levels, with many fewer workers, thus reflecting the dramatic increase in productivity, which is the best guarantee of secure jobs in the future.
§ Mr. Allan StewartIs my hon. Friend aware of the recent announcement of a multi-million pound investment at Mearns Cross in my constituency? Is he further aware that that follows a major investment announced by English Sewing in manufacturing industry at Neilston and Newton Mearns in my constituency? Do not those practical examples give the lie to the nonsense talked by Opposition Members about the Scottish economy?
§ Mr. LangMy hon. Friend is absolutely right. The quality of the Scottish work force and the other attractions of locating in Scotland are manifest and are reflected in the number of companies coming to Scotland.
Mr. John David TaylorDoes the Minister realise that Scottish Unionists will not be voting for Conservative candidates at the next election, not simply because they supported the Anglo-Irish Agreement, but because Scottish Ministers—
§ Mr. SpeakerOrder. I must stop the hon. Member from going wide of the question. Will he relate his question to Scottish prosperity?
Mr. TaylorIt is very much related to the Scottish economy. I am giving the second reason why Scottish Unionists will not be voting. It is because Scottish Ministers have clearly put London policies before the interests of the Scots.
§ Mr. LangI had hoped that the right hon. Gentleman, in this United Kingdom Parliament, would pay tribute to the very generous help that has gone to Northern Ireland from the British Government.
§ Mr. Maxwell-HyslopBearing in mind that Scotland has more Members of Parliament per head than England, does my hon. Friend believe that this public expenditure results in more, or less, prosperity for Scotland?
§ Mr. LangI shall answer my hon. Friend by pointing out that productivity on the Government side of the House is very much greater than on the Opposition side.
§ Dr. GodmanMany people in my constituency are emphatically denied a share in this so-called prosperity. Will the Secretary of State for Scotland now respond to the request that I made to him some three weeks ago for a feasibility study into potential projects in the lower Clyde area to be conducted by, say, Planning Industrial Economic Development Advisers or some other such consultancy firm? Such a study is desperately needed.
§ Mr. LangI certainly recognise the special difficulties in the Inverclyde area. As the hon. Gentleman will know, the Inverclyde initiative is giving close attention to this. My right hon. and learned Friend is also considering what further measures may be brought to bear in that area.
§ Mr. ForthDoes my hon. Friend realise that those of us who live in the midlands look north with envy to Scotland, in appreciating the levels of income, as he has mentioned, and of public expenditure? Will my hon. Friend tell us the secret of his success?
§ Mr. LangI would advise my hon. Friend to return to Scotland, where he will find that average earnings are up threefold over the past 10 years and the gross domestic product has doubled since 1977.
§ Mr. DewarWill the Minister note that on the Opposition side, at least, we do not regard the news of a shopping development in Newton Mearns as the yardstick against which we ought to measure national success? Can he perhaps comment on his extraordinary boast that after eight years of Conservative success he can only say that we have almost got industrial investment back to 1979 levels?
May I suggest to the assorted comics on the Government Benches who have taken part in this interlude that we have in Scotland some 360,000 people in the dole queues and that we were alone in the United Kingdom last month in seeing our seasonally adjusted unemployment figures rise? If we want a constructive debate, will the Minister say what he is doing to support the stand by the Caterpillar work force, who do not want to add to the total of 192,000 manufacturing jobs lost under this Government? Will he recognise that we expect positive steps to be taken to find another operator or, as a last resort, to provide jobs in the plant for the work force, and that a generalised statement of good intentions or of a feeling of outrage is no substitute for specific and effective action?
§ Mr. LangIf the hon. Gentleman has read the statement that I made yesterday, he will be well aware of the Government's continuing commitment to finding alternative employment for the work force at the Caterpillar plant. As regards manufacturing jobs, if he had listened to the answer that I gave earlier he would have realised that the point I was making was not so much about output as about productivity. The very demonstration of the increased productivity that has resulted over the past few years is the best guarantee of continuing employment provision in Scotland.