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 Doug Hoyle Mr Doug Hoyle , Nelson and Colne 12:00, 24 July 1978

Perhaps so, but it is for the people of Nelson and Colne and not for the hon. Member to decide.

If these new developments are used rightly, they will enrich the lives of everyone in the world, but if used wrongly they will bring chaos and even another world war which could destroy mankind. That is why we must educate people not only to enjoy leisure but to take up socially useful projects.

I do not see why the opportunities once enjoyed only by a small leisured class cannot be extended to the whole working class so that they can enjoy the fruits of society. I never thought that man came on this earth to go down a coal mine or to work all his life in a factory or an office. We can now begin to get rid of that kind of life, but only with world co-operation. I should like the Government—and perhaps the TUC; I say this as president of a union—to take the lead in organising first a European conference and then a world conference to discuss the quality of life and the problems of the silicon chip revolution.

Time is short, and this kind of partisan debate and the party-political points made by Conservative Members do not help. We must tackle the problems of the new industrial revolution. Time is not on our side.