Economic Situation

Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 20 December 1956.

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Photo of Mr Roy Jenkins Mr Roy Jenkins , Birmingham Stechford 12:00, 20 December 1956

The transition from a low to a high investment economy is, I think, a difficult transition for any Government to effect. It is a transition which cannot be carried through entirely painlessly, because one gets the burst of investment only when one is using one's resources very fully anyhow. It is not really possible, even if hon. Members wished such a solution, to make room for investment, for instance, by having a situation in which wage demands were not coming along because there was a pool of unemployment and the trade unions were in a weak position. In that situation, one does not get a strong investment demand coming along either.