Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 24 July 1978.
No. I think that I should make more progress. Rising productivity is also a prerequisite of getting more jobs. Lower unit costs and less over-manning within industry may sound contrary, but if industry goes on being over-maimed and unit costs keep going up so that it becomes less competitive, that is a certain way of destroying jobs in industry.
It is essential to adopt the right measures to improve productivity. I do not believe that that can be done by the Government or by the House. The Government can help on taxation and by improving the general climate of business confidence, but achieving higher productivity must be a matter for the managements, trade unions and work forces. We cannot solve these problems by passing laws. Some of the laws that have been passed have made it more difficult for management and trade union leaders to resolve difficulties on the shop floor.