1091
HKB020/3
Oral Answers
W181, BRFING LMY
18/3
14 MARCH 1991
a renewed and reinvigorated drive to obtain inward investment for Northern Ireland as a substitute for the potential job losses post-1991?
Mr. Needham: No, I do not agree with that report. As I said earlier, the Northern Ireland economy is dealing with the downturn very much better than it has dealt with any previous downturn. As the hon. Gentleman knows, it is also dealing with it very much better than any other region. We are attracting investment from a whole range of companies and countries precisely because they know that, by coming to Northern Ireland, they will be able to compete in the European market. The Northern Ireland economy in the 1990s has a rosy future, provided that we raise the level of our marketing, training and productivity. That is exactly what we will do.
Mr. Tim Smith: Instead of talking about safeguarding existing jobs in the Province, should we not be a little more positive and talk about the creation of new jobs? Will not the single European market offer good new opportunities for Northern Ireland as an attractive place for investment from outside the Community?
Mr. Needham: I thank my hon. Friend. I am being, and have always been positive about the Northern Ireland economy. We are attracting very large numbers of new jobs from a large number of countries and a large number of companies. By getting those new jobs, the training, productivity and marketing right, the Northern Ireland economy is, for the first time, showing the way to the rest of the country.
Mr. Stott: Perhaps the Minister might reflect that, just before the advent of the single European market, the seasonally adjusted figures for unemployment in Northern Ireland are understated by roughly 50,000 as a result of the way in which the Government currently calculate the statistics. Does he accept that the true level of unemployment now stands at 20 per cent.? Does he regard that as an achievement of 12 years of Conservative rule, given the fact that, in 1979, unemployment in Northern Ireland was 11.3 per cent.?
Mr. Needham: I do not accept the hon. Gentleman's figures. Unemployment in Northern Ireland at the moment is 13.5 per cent. It is lower this year than it was a year ago, whereas in the rest of the country it was 5-7 per cent., and it is now 7 per cent. The Northern Ireland economy is, I repeat, showing a faster rate of increase than at any time since 1921. I have yet to hear from the hon. Member for Wigan (Mr. Stott) what on earth he would do to the economy of Northern Ireland.
PRIME MINISTER
NED
APDD
HKD
ACDD
Engagements
UND
Mr. Alan W. Williams: To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Thursday 14 March.
The Prime Minister (Mr. John Major): This morning I presided at a meeting of the Cabinet and had meetings with ministerial colleagues and others. In addition to my duties in this House, I shall be having further meetings later today.
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Oral Answers
Burder. Sharmin
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1092
Mr. Williams: Does the Prime Minister recall saying not so long ago that the poll tax system would be fairer, more acceptable and prove to be enduring? Does he think that he is still clear in his own mind about that?
The Prime Minister: The hon. Gentleman will be a good deal clearer in his mind about the future of the community charge before very long. It is particularly surprising that, some months after the Labour party produced its own roof tax, it is still unable to answer even the most obvious questions about it.
Mr. Ian Bruce: My right hon. Friend, in paying tribute to the forces in the Gulf, has very often referred to the training that those people had received. Will he assure the House that, in the “Options for Change" review, while we may change where the training is carried out or the number of people being trained, we will certainly ensure that the quality of training, such as that provided in Portland, is not diminished?
The Prime Minister: The quality and nature of training is clearly very important. Whatever may happen as we consider "Options for Change" in future, that will not change.
Mr. Kinnock: Does the Prime Minister think that the Ministers who have been responsible for spending £10 billion of taxpayers' money on the utterly discredited poll tax system should now do the honourable thing and resign?
The Prime Minister: Shadow Ministers responsible for a scheme that they would foist on the country should explain how it would work. The right hon. Gentleman cannot even tell us, months after his scheme was introduced, what the levels would be in his constituency.
Mr. Kinnock: The Government have spent and are continuing to spend vast sums on trying to sustain the poll tax system including the £400 million to set it up, the £300 million a year on trying to maintain it and the £6 billion in an attempt to sweeten it. Does not the Prime Minister agree that any company or public body responsible for spending so much money so wilfully would have the people responsible on their way to gaol, and rightly so?
The Prime Minister: Perhaps the people leading the queue to gaol should be those Labour local authorities which waste more money than anyone else in the country and whose average community charge is £78 higher than Conservative authorities.
Mr. Ward: When my right hon. Friend considers with his colleagues the lessons of the Gulf war, will he bear in mind the need for amphibious capability and in particular the need for amphibious craft for the Royal Marines and such services?
The Prime Minister: In the aftermath of the Gulf war, we shall need to consider a number of matters to ensure that our armed forces are up to date and relevant. I shall bear in mind what my hon. Friend says.
Q2. Mr. Cryer: To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Thursday 14 March.
The Prime Minister: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply that I gave some moments ago.
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