Budget Resolutions and Economic Situation

Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 15 April 1970.

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Photo of Mr Dick Taverne Mr Dick Taverne , Lincoln 12:00, 15 April 1970

I will do exactly what the right hon. Gentleman asks, and quote from his speech on specific passages, but before I leave the question of wages it is noticeable that right hon. Gentlemen opposite, particularly the Leader of the Opposition, are far more eager to point to the dangers than to the remedies, except those of a most general kind, without any specific proposals to back them up. They have always proved that they have mole concern to exploit grievances than to propose alternatives in this or any other field.

The right hon. Member for Enfield, West called for the abolition of the Prices and Incomes Board, which presumably applies to its successor. That is the only thing that the Opposition called for in the field of wages. [Interruption.] I shall return to the other parts of the speech. The only thing they have called for has been firmness in the public sector. That is the only specific proposals we have from the right hon. Gentleman.

That was the policy which was tried by the right hon. and learned Member for Wirral (Mr. Selwyn Lloyd), a policy which failed in 1961. The thought that one could build a successful voluntary policy on discrimination against nurses, doctors, teachers, railwaymen, police and other public servants in contrast to those in the private sector, is, of course, a hopeless delusion. Last night, the right hon. Gentleman said that their policy was to be based on wage increases for productivity, but there were no details nor explanations of how this was to be achieved.