§ 8. Mr. Simon CoombsTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what are the latest percentage figures for unemployment in Scotland; and what is the average for the EU. [15792]
§ Mr. Michael ForsythUnemployment in Scotland is about 1.5 per cent. lower than the European average.
§ Mr. CoombsHas my right hon. Friend noticed that non-wage labour costs in Scotland are 50 per cent. lower than those in France and Spain? Has he also noticed that in those two countries, unemployment is between 50 per cent. and 300 per cent. higher than it is in Scotland? Does he imagine that companies such as Chunghwa Picture 881 Tubes would have brought 3,300 jobs to Lanarkshire if the social chapter and the national minimum wage were imposed on Scotland as they are on France and Spain?
§ Mr. ForsythI quote a socialist, Jacques Delors, who said that Scotland and Britain would be a paradise for inward investment if we were allowed to opt out of the social chapter. Out of the mouth of a socialist, we have confirmation that the socialist policies of the social chapter, the minimum wage and the tartan tax, to which Opposition Members—I mean Members of all Opposition parties, not just the Labour party—are committed would indeed destroy inward investment.
My hon. Friend is absolutely right to draw attention to the fact that the countries which follow those socialist policies have a poorer record on job creation and on the proportion of the work force in employment than this country. The price of the Opposition's policies will be paid in lost jobs by the people of Scotland if the Opposition are ever given an opportunity to put their policies into practice in central Government.
§ Mr. DonohoeJust when will the Secretary of State concede that the only tartan tax there has ever been in Scotland was the poll tax, for which he was responsible?
§ Mr. ForsythI agree with the hon. Gentleman that the poll tax or community charge was introduced in Scotland a year ahead of its introduction in England. Labour Members campaigned strongly against that, arguing that it was an outrage that Scotland should have to pay a tax ahead of England. Yet the same Labour Members propose that Scotland should have to pay a tax year after year after year—a tartan tax and a tax on Scotland's jobs. That is Labour policy. Labour Members are now going round saying that the Conservative party is telling lies about the tartan tax.
Labour's partner in the constitutional convention, the leader of the Labour party, the right hon. Member for Yeovil (Mr. Ashdown)—[HON. MEMBERS: "The Liberal Democrat party."] I should have said, the leader of the Liberal Democrats. He was on Scottish television only last Sunday committing himself to spending the tartan tax. Here we have it. One group of the partners denies that the tartan tax exists while the other group in the constitutional convention is busily spending the money even before a Scottish Parliament has been set up. A tartan tax would be a disaster for jobs in Scotland and the hon. Gentleman is right to point out how unfair it would be.
§ Mr. John CarlisleThis is the first time in 17 years as a Member of Parliament that I have attended Scottish Question Time, and it has been pretty depressing to hear the whingeing and whining from Opposition Members who are constantly asking for money and disparaging the excellent work of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State. May I tell my right hon. Friend that as a representative of a small company that is trying increase the number of jobs in our part of Scotland, we will continue our efforts despite the attitudes and policies espoused by the Opposition?
§ Mr. ForsythI am grateful for my hon. Friend's commitment to creating jobs in Scotland. If he comes to Scottish Question Time regularly, he will find that it is something of an acquired taste.
§ Mr. McAvoyDoes the Secretary of State appreciate that one of the big disincentives to creating employment 882 in my constituency is the chromium waste sites throughout Cambuslang and Rutherglen? He has referred to Scottish Enterprise. Could he explain to my constituents who will pay for the clearance of those sites, bearing in mind the so-called voluntary 7 per cent. cut in Scottish Enterprise's funds?
§ Mr. ForsythThe hon. Gentleman is right to point out that a reduction in Scottish Enterprise's budget means that the scope for additional expenditure is clearly limited. My complaint is not with the hon. Gentleman, but with his Front-Bench colleagues who attack us for reducing the Scottish Enterprise budget by 7.5 per cent., when Scottish Enterprise is prepared to maintain all services and outputs within that budget.
§ Mr. ConnartyIt has cut the training budgets.
§ Mr. ForsythThe hon. Gentleman says that Scottish Enterprise has cut the training budgets, but it is to maintain the levels of training. That is the kind of attitude that we want to see.
§ Mr. ConnartyThat is impossible.
§ Mr. ForsythIt is not impossible—it is about operating an efficient public service, and that is what Scottish Enterprise is doing. The hon. Member for Glasgow, Rutherglen (Mr. McAvoy) cannot argue for more money for local government—we have given local government £26.5 million extra, money which came from Scottish Enterprise—while complaining about a reduction in Scottish Enterprise's budget. He is complaining about priorities and, in this case, the money has gone to local government. On his particular point about dealing with land pollution, I will be happy to discuss that with Scottish Enterprise and I will write to the hon. Gentleman.
§ Mr. McAllionDoes the Secretary of State understand that unemployment in Scotland is set to increase next year by a minimum of 4,500 as a direct result of the cuts that he is imposing on Scottish local government? He seems determined to destroy those jobs, as well as the many thousands of other jobs that depend upon locally provided services in Scotland. How can he come to the Dispatch Box and pose as the defender of employment in Scotland, when the truth is that he is the destroyer of jobs in Scotland? He is not so much the Secretary of State for Scotland as the Secretary of State for continuing and rising mass unemployment in Scotland.
§ Mr. ForsythThe hon. Gentleman got his knuckles rapped for suggesting that the £395 million of extra expenditure that he wants to go to local government could come from the health service. If we were to take £395 million out of the health service budget, some 15,000 nurses and doctors would be made redundant in Scotland. The hon. Gentleman must get it into his head that the role of local government is to provide services, and not to provide employment. If the hon. Gentleman thinks that taking £395 million out of the Scottish Office budget would not result in job losses, he is living in a dream world. The hon. Gentleman must recognise that efficient local government is part of competitiveness, and competitiveness is essential to job creation in Scotland.