§ 1. Mrs. Betty Williams (Conwy)If he will make a statement on the change in the level of unemployment in the Conwy constituency since May 1997. [112212]
§ The Chancellor of the Exchequer (Mr. Gordon Brown)Claimant unemployment in the Conwy parliamentary constituency has fallen by 341–14.3 per cent.—since the general election. Youth unemployment has fallen by 76 per cent. To secure our objective of high and stable employment, the Government will proceed on the basis of matching rights and responsibilities, creating new opportunities for work in return for obligations. The report by Lord Grabiner QC on the informal economy proposes to toughen sanctions against working in the hidden economy. At the same time, for the vast majority who are looking for work, we are considering more intensive coaching and help, where appropriate, with training, travel, transitional costs and child care.
§ Mrs. WilliamsI thank my right hon. Friend. Hundreds of my constituents are grateful for the Labour Government's new deal and would condemn the Opposition for describing it as a colossal and expensive 1172 failure. What assurances can my right hon. Friend give to show that he intends to build on the success of the new deal to achieve Labour's historic aim of full employment?
§ Mr. BrownEven though youth unemployment has fallen by 68 per cent. in the constituency of the shadow Chancellor, the right hon. Member for Kensington and Chelsea (Mr. Portillo) says that the new deal is an expensive failure and that he would abolish it. In October, the Conservatives announced that they would privatise the Employment Service. Their policy would be bad for Conwy: in addition to abolishing the new deal, they would return the economy to boom and bust. The shadow Chancellor made Tory policy clear when he said that the Tories were
linked to harshness, thought to be uncaring about unemployment, poverty, poor housing. We were thought to favour greed.That is, in fact, exactly the policy of the Tory party.