HL Deb 13 March 1975 vol 358 cc398-400
Lord HALE

My Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.

The Question was as follows:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the figure of unemployment and temporarily stopped in the cotton textile industry giving the spinning and weaving sections separately and what are the future prospects for employment.

Lord BESWICK

My Lords, on 10th February, the latest date for which official figures are available, there were 5,210 people unemployed who had last worked in the cotton and allied textile industries, and 4,305 who were temporarily stopped from these industries. The spinning sector accounted for 1,866 of the unemployed and 1,737 of the temporarily stopped, and the weaving sector accounted for 1,368 of the unemployed and 1,391 of the temporarily stopped. The textile industry is suffering from a substantially reduced level of demand. There are good prospects for employment as demand recovers.

Lord HALE

My Lords, while thankink my noble friend for those figures, may I ask whether he is aware that the situation has become worse since 10th February and that many people are gravely concerned about the position of the textile industry? Will he recall all its suffering and the fact that, despite that, there has been no major strike in the textile industry in the course of this century? Is there not a grave danger if this Government— which I wholly and enthusiastically support— do not recognise that people who do not take militant action need equal consideration?

Lord BESWICK

My Lords, I am aware of what my noble friend says and I recognise that the figures I have given, as the only official figures available for a recent date, do not disclose the full extent of short-time working and some unemployment, especially among married women who are not registered at the employment offices. But various proposals have been put forward by the industry to deal with the present situation and these proposals are being urgently considered.

Lord BARNBY

My Lords, with regard to the question of imports which affect the textile industry and to unemployment in that industry, is the noble Lord aware that at the present moment there is further peril to employment in the textile industry because of the difficulty of raw material supplies? These are conventionally landed at Tilbury, and there industrial action—I believe it is unofficial—is stopping the landing of the raw material, which compels the ships to proceed to Antwerp or Bremerhaven, where they are unloaded. But then, if loaded on to trans-Channel ships and landed at, shall I say, Immingham they are then blacklisted, so whatever arrangements a mill may make to save employment by getting raw material are thus being hampered?

Lord BESWICK

My Lords, I am not aware of what the noble Lord says, and I will make inquiries. But to the best of my knowledge that is not one of the difficulties that confronts the industry at the present time.

Lord BARNBY

My Lords, did the noble Lord say that it is not so?

Lord BESWICK

My Lords, what I said was that I am unaware that the facts are as stated by the noble Lord. I will make inquiries but to the best of my knowledge the difficulties do not lie in that direction.

Lord CROOK

My Lords, may I ask my noble friend whether he is aware that the majority of British imports are much more likely to come into either Liverpool or Hull?

Lord BESWICK

My Lords, the representations which I have seen mostly refer to imports, which the industry say should be kept out.