New Clause 67. — (Regional Employment Premium.)

Part of Orders of the Day — FINANCE (No. 2) BILL – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 14 June 1967.

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Photo of Mr Jack Diamond Mr Jack Diamond , Gloucester 12:00, 14 June 1967

We have had a very interesting, and by no means short, debate on this Clause which is one of several we are to debate. Many of them deal with interesting and important points, and I know that several hon. Members are waiting to raise them. We have been discussing this Clause since about Four o'clock. I hope, therefore, that it will be thought convenient and appropriate for me to reply to the debate now, particularly as I have heard almost all the speeches, and during the three-quarters of an hour or so during which I have been out of the Chamber I have had conveyed to me the essential content of those which I did not hear.

All the main arguments have been argued on earlier occasions. They have been repeated today, and many right hon. and hon. Members are anxious to relate them to their constituency problems and geographical areas. I appreciate this, but, nevertheless, I think that we have to concentrate on the general principles of the regional employment premium, and the general principles underlying the Clause. I hope, therefore, that it will be regarded as appropriate, and by no means discourteous, that I should seek now to reply as fully as I can to the many points which have been raised. It will be impossible to reply to them all in any reasonable space of time, but I assure all those who have spoken that I shall carefully consider all the points which have been made—they cover not only this Clause, but related and more general topics—and read with great care all that has been said. If I fail in the course of my reply to deal with any important points which have been raised, I shall write to the hon. Members concerned.

It seems to me that, broadly speaking the Clause has been welcomed. Almost all the speeches from this side of the House have been welcoming ones. The Liberal speeches have been in warm welcome, for which I am grateful. The Opposition have not received it so warmly, and I imagine that they will seek to divide the Committee on it later, but I have heard no compelling arguments against it. Indeed, the argument advanced by the right hon. Member for Flint, West (Mr. Birch) was for concentration. He said that we should not spread this so thinly. This is a valid point and it can be debated whether the geographical area is too wide. Some think that it is not wide enough. Many of the speeches have suggested that the areas should be redrawn. One of the Liberal speeches was to that effect. Many of my hon. Friends have suggested that the areas should be wider still. We know the problem to which the right hon. Member for Flint, West referred. He thinks that it should be narrower.

But whether it should be broader or narrower does not affect the major point that here is a method by which we seek to do something—and nobody has suggested an alternative—to remove what has clearly come to be an established imbalance between areas—a situation which must be intolerable for those living there and responsible for them. They know that whatever they as managers and working men do to help, the area in which they live, and work, and use every effort to help, is doomed to have less than an average share of the prosperity of the country. This is established beyond doubt, and we must do something to help. Every Government has accepted that we should do something to help, and every Government has helped. We have helped more because naturally we take this point more to heart. All we are saying is that in spite of the help that we have given, and in spite of the best endeavours of everybody concerned—and we have had co-operation from all sides of industry, and from all parties—we have not solved the problem of the difference in the level of activity, and in the level of employment, in different areas. Therefore, we must do something more. This would solve most of the problem which in scale, as my right hon. Friend said, equals the sum of everything done so far.

That is a radical and substantial approach and, if it is right, we should get on with it. If it will achieve a major effect on this imbalance, we should do it as fast as possible. I am, therefore, most grateful for the welcome which it has received from so many hon. Members and for the way in which our publication of these ideas in a Green Paper followed by a Second Reading debate before the introduction of the proposal itself has also been welcomed.

Many hon. Members want the Clause to be more effective. Some think that it goes too wide, but most said that it should be more selective and, more particularly, wider in its effect. Few speeches have suggested that we should not make this attempt. The hon. Member for Worthing (Mr. Higgins) said that he broadly accepted the economic argument that this would introduce more balance in the level of activity between the regions—