§ Q14. Mr. Hal Millerasked the Prime Minister what measures Her Majesty's Government propose to introduce within the next six months to achieve the objective of turning the economy on to a long-term recovery path, to which she referred in her reply the hon. Member for Southend, East (Mr. Taylor) on 9 June.
§ The Prime MinisterTo turn the economy on to a long-term recovery path requires the achievement of four things: we must continue to maintain tight monetary discipline, so that inflation continues to fall and productivity in the private sector continues to rise, as it is now rapidly doing; we have to hold down public spending and borrowing as a proportion of the national product, so that there are resources available for the private sector to grow; we have to improve the performance of the nationalised industries so that they serve the public instead of levying from it higher prices or taxes. Finally, we must try by all the means available to us to bring about a greater realism in pay bargaining, a major improvement in manning levels and the elimination of restrictive practices which damage our whole economy and destroys jobs.
Over the next six months, we shall, as everyone knows, be reviewing the levels of public spending; we are at present engaged in a full study of the nationalised industries and their relationship with the Government; we shall be adhering to our present monetary policies; and we shall be deciding what steps should be taken in the light of the responses to our Green Paper on the trade unions.