HC Deb 27 April 1993 vol 223 cc835-6
4. Mr. Winnick

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many people were unemployed for 12 months and longer in May 1979 and at the latest available date.

The Secretary of State for Employment (Mrs. Gillian Shephard)

The figures for January 1993 show a reduction of almost 10 per cent. in the number of people who have been unemployed for 12 months or more, compared with January 1983—the earliest date for which equivalent figures are available.

Mr. Winnick

Is the Secretary of State aware that it is perfectly understandable that she has not given the figure for 1979, which is 366,700? I have just obtained that information from the Library. Is it not a fact that three times as many people have been unemployed for longer than one year than when the Labour Government left office? Is not the Secretary of State ashamed of the misery and heartbreak of so many of our fellow citizens who are long-term unemployed, many of whom work on the assumption that, even with the slow recovery which is taking place, they will never be able to work again? They are the victims of the Government's economic policies.

Mrs. Shephard

I would not want in any way to minimise the difficulty for people who suffer long-term unemployment. The simple fact is that the number of long-term unemployed people is almost a quarter—24 per cent.—lower than at its peak in 1986. It is obvious from the hon. Gentleman's supplementary question that, like so many of his colleagues, he would have liked, and perhaps he was expecting, a more gloomy reply. I shall add to his all-too-obvious discomfiture by inviting him to welcome the fact that in his constituency the reduction was 21 per cent.

Mr. Bill Walker

Does my right hon. Friend agree that the only jobs provided by the Government are the jobs of those who are directly employed by the public service or the quangos and other organisations set up in the public service area and that the jobs that are provided in the economy come as a result of the Government creating low inflation, low interest rates and competitive prices, thanks to white Wednesday? Consequently, we can look forward to improvements in the United Kingdom because we are more competitive than any other country in Europe.

Mrs. Shephard

I would not want to build too much on the improvement in unemployment that we have seen for the past two months. Of course, my hon. Friend is absolutely right. It is not the Government who create jobs; it is business, industry and commerce. It ill behoves Opposition Members to pour scorn on the good economic news, which is good news for unemployed people.

Mr. Grocott

Does the Secretary of State recall that throughout the past 14 years we have had repeated assurances from the Secretary of State for Employment, two Prime Ministers and others that all the dreadful unemployment statistics were nothing whatever to do with the Government? Now that Ministers claim that there is some marginal improvement in the unemployment statistics, will the Secretary of State take this opportunity to reaffirm to the House the Government philosophy that if there is any improvement it is nothing whatever to do with the Government?

Mrs. Shephard

What is absolutely certain is that only when Opposition Members express a commitment to keep Britain competitive, reject support for the national minimum wage and, in the case of the hon. Member for Holborn and St. Pancras (Mr. Dobson), support employers can their much vaunted and so-called support for unemployed people be taken seriously.

Mr. David Evans

Does my right hon. Friend agree that of the 1 million long-term unemployed, probably half have no intention of working again and, therefore, can be termed layabouts? Do the long-term unemployment figures include the lot opposite? They have been unemployed for 14 years.

Mrs. Shephard

My hon. Friend's strictures on fraud among people who call themselves unemployed are well known. I understand his anxiety because any fraud within the unemployment or benefits system can only serve to make things worse for people who are genuinely unemployed. As for the present or prospective employment of Opposition Members, my hon. Friend has made his point.

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