Oral Answers to Questions — Employment – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 6 March 1956.
Mr Albert Hunter
, Feltham
12:00,
6 March 1956
asked the Minister of Labour the number of unemployed in the radio industry at the latest convenient date.
Mr Iain Macleod
, Enfield West
The manufacture of radio and television sets is included in a classification which also covers gramophones, radar equipment, etc., and the manufacture of valves is included in the classification entitled "Wireless Valves and Electric Lamps." For these two classifications the numbers registered as unemployed at 13th February were 1,548 and 348 respectively.
Mr Albert Hunter
, Feltham
Arising out of that reply, may I ask the Minister if he will watch carefully the position in the radio industry in which there are signs of a great slump developing similar to that in the motorcar industry? Will the Minister also pay special attention to some areas in my own district of south-west Middlesex where there are large radio factories, as my Constituency is specially interested in this matter?
Mr Iain Macleod
, Enfield West
Yes, indeed, we will watch this carefully. There is one general point I want to make in fairness to the House. The figures I have quoted for 13th February are the latest available and they will not be published for a day or two yet. These show the position of unemployment at 13th February which, the House will remember, was a few days before the Chancellor announced his measures.
Mr Arthur Skeffington
, Hayes and Harlington
Is the Minister aware that there is a threat of redundancy involving some 1,800 workers at the E.M.I. factory at Hayes? Further, could he say what steps his Ministry are taking to deal with that situation should it develop?
Mr Iain Macleod
, Enfield West
If redundancy involves people in registering at the employment exchanges, as it does not always do, particularly in this industry, then all the services of the Ministry are available to them. Again, however, there are sometimes great discrepancies in the figures, because although one reads, and knows, of considerable redundancies created in this industry, not a very large percentage of those register at the employment exchanges.
Sir Richard Pilkington
, Poole
Can my right hon. Friend say whether he thinks that a Majority of these people can be successfully absorbed into other businesses?
Mr Iain Macleod
, Enfield West
It is difficult to generalise about that. What one can say is that the number of vacancies in general over the country are still very much greater than the number of unemployed.
Mr Wilfrid Burke
, Burnley
Can the Minister say what proportion of these people who are unemployed are in Lancashire?
Mr Iain Macleod
, Enfield West
No, Sir, not without notice.
Ministers make up the Government and almost all are members of the House of Lords or the House of Commons. There are three main types of Minister. Departmental Ministers are in charge of Government Departments. The Government is divided into different Departments which have responsibilities for different areas. For example the Treasury is in charge of Government spending. Departmental Ministers in the Cabinet are generally called 'Secretary of State' but some have special titles such as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Ministers of State and Junior Ministers assist the ministers in charge of the department. They normally have responsibility for a particular area within the department and are sometimes given a title that reflects this - for example Minister of Transport.
In a general election, each Constituency chooses an MP to represent them. MPs have a responsibility to represnt the views of the Constituency in the House of Commons. There are 650 Constituencies, and thus 650 MPs. A citizen of a Constituency is known as a Constituent
The Chancellor - also known as "Chancellor of the Exchequer" is responsible as a Minister for the treasury, and for the country's economy. For Example, the Chancellor set taxes and tax rates. The Chancellor is the only MP allowed to drink Alcohol in the House of Commons; s/he is permitted an alcoholic drink while delivering the budget.
The term "majority" is used in two ways in Parliament. Firstly a Government cannot operate effectively unless it can command a majority in the House of Commons - a majority means winning more than 50% of the votes in a division. Should a Government fail to hold the confidence of the House, it has to hold a General Election. Secondly the term can also be used in an election, where it refers to the margin which the candidate with the most votes has over the candidate coming second. To win a seat a candidate need only have a majority of 1.
