§ Mr. Crawfordasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will now, in view of the fact that Scotland still has a higher rate of unemployment than England, introduce discriminatory measures in favour of Scotland to reduce unemployment in that country.
§ Mr. John FraserThe difference between Scotland's unemployment rate and the national average has narrowed in the past two years and the whole of Scotland already has development area or special development area status. I do not, therefore, envisage taking any additional discriminatory measures in favour of Scotland. Our immediate concern is to mitigate the worst effects of unemployment, the level of which is unacceptable in all areas of Great Britain. The measures announced on 24th September were designed to meet this aim.