Orders of the Day — Unemployment

Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 24 July 1978.

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Photo of Mr Harold Walker Mr Harold Walker , Doncaster 12:00, 24 July 1978

I will give way in a few moments if the hon. Gentleman wants to tell me whether the reported changes that may be part of Conservative Party policy are in fact accurate and reliable. For instance, there is a report in that usually reliable newspaper the Financial Times to the effect that the right hon. Member for Lowestoft has told the 1922 Committee of the Tory Party that he is in favour of exempting young people under 21 and firms with fewer than 50 employees from the scope of the Employment Protection Act. We learn that the right hon. and learned Member for Surrey, East (Sir G. Howe), the Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer, wants to create buccaneering zones where certain provisions of the Employment Protection Act should not apply. Are these the changes that the Conservative Party is proposing to put before the electorate? Are these the changes that will form part of Conservative Party policy? Hon. Members opposite are silent. I must assume that their silence denotes assent.