§ 3. Mr. DavidsonHow many people in Scotland have benefited from the introduction of the national minimum wage. [104929]
132 I apologise for not having asked the question at the proper time, Madam Speaker.
§ Madam SpeakerThank you. I like the House to make progress, but not quite that speedily.
§ The Secretary of State for Scotland (Dr. John Reid)I agree with both what my hon. Friend tried to say and what he is about to say. We anticipate that as many as 145,000 employees in Scotland might benefit from the introduction of the national minimum wage.
§ Mr. DavidsonDoes my right hon. Friend recall all those siren voices that told us that, if the national minimum wage were introduced, economic disaster would result and jobs would be lost in Scotland and throughout the United Kingdom? Is he aware that since the general election, unemployment in my constituency has been cut by 30 per cent.? That is something of which the Government should be proud. Does he agree that, if a national minimum wage of £3.60 is good, a national minimum wage of even more in the current year would be even better?
§ Dr. ReidOn the first part of his second statement, I entirely agree with my hon. Friend. The scare stories put around about the detrimental effects of introducing a national minimum wage have been proved false. For example, far from falling, staff levels in small firms have risen by 11 per cent. in the past year. As my hon. Friend will be aware, unemployment in Scotland is at its lowest level for almost a quarter of a century, and many jobs have been created. It is important to set the minimum wage at a level that assists hundreds of thousands of people, but is not so high that it affects employment. We have succeeded in doing that.
Again, I note that, as we work through those difficult issues, hon. Members representing the Scottish National party and the Conservative party show no interest in measures designed to help people in Scotland out of poverty.