Labour Markets (Hansard, 19 October 1993)

§ 8. Mr. Jenkin
To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what initiatives his Department has pursued to increase the flexibility of labour markets in the United Kingdom.

§ Mr. David Hunt
My Department is taking a wide range of measures to improve labour market flexibility. I and my right hon. and hon. Friends are doing our best to convince our European partners to follow the same policies. I certainly tried to do that at the Social Affairs Council last week.

§ Mr. Jenkin
I thank my right hon. Friend for that response. I congratulate him on as successful an outcome as may have been hoped for at the Social Affairs Council last week. In particular, I congratulate him on the veto that he applied to the works council directive, as he said he would at the Conservative conference. Is it not the case that the works council directive will be applied to the other 11 member states under the arrangements of the Maastricht treaty? How will we make the veto effective in the United Kingdom if British multinationals operating in Europe have to set up works councils as if they applied in the United Kingdom as well?

§ Mr. Hunt
My hon. Friend is right to raise that issue. First, on the veto that I applied, I made it clear that we were not prepared to contemplate the imposition, under the treaty of Rome, of statutory works councils in Europe. As my hon. Friend is aware, the social protocol, which Opposition Members would have us sign, exists and it now remains for the Eleven to consider how to proceed. I must tell my hon. Friend, however, that there is increasing evidence that our partners are coming round to our point of view. [HON. MEMBERS: "Where is the evidence for that?"]. Wait a moment. There is, however, also evidence to show that all our companies must deal with the home laws of each country in which they trade, including the Community. What is clear is that a directive of the Eleven will not apply in the United Kingdom.
137 Opposition Members have shouted for the necessary evidence and I highlight today's edition of The Guardian —I do not often do that—which reports:
Jacques Delors has admitted that he is close to becoming a lame-duck president of the European Commission, unable to stop the community drifting towards 'an English-style Europe'. That is very good news for the United Kingdom and for the rest of the Community.

§ Mr. Boyce
In Rotherham we have a steel plant that is recognised as one of the best in the country, if not in Europe, with a flexible work force second to none. It is proposed, however, that the Templeborough steel works will close at the end of December. What message of comfort can I take back to the 260 workers who will lose their jobs?

§ Mr. Hunt
I regret any job losses anywhere in the United Kingdom, but I must tell the hon. Gentleman that job losses would be threatened for thousands and millions of people if we were to adopt the policies that he and his hon. Friends urge on us in trying to make us sign up to a social protocol that would mean a more inflexible labour market. He must ask himself why more inward investment is coming to the United Kingdom than to any other part of the European Community. It is because everywhere else in the world sees the United Kingdom as a haven for inward investment.