Orders of the Day — Co-operative Development Agency and Industrial Development Bill

Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 8:26 pm on 7 February 1984.

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Photo of Mr Kenneth Hind Mr Kenneth Hind , West Lancashire 8:26, 7 February 1984

That is right. The Labour party says to the Conservative Government, "Your regional policy is no good." I do not agree with my hon. Friend the Member for Wolverhampton, South-West (Mr. Budgen) because I am a strong supporter of regional policy. It has an important part to play in our economy. Some hon. Members represent areas with development status as I do. In my constituency, in Skelmersdale, unemployment has reached 22·4 per cent. We recognise that development regional policy has an important part to play in alleviating that problem.

I shall put the record straight, because the hon. Member for Huddersfield and the right hon. Member for Swansea, West (Mr. Williams) have made the usual blind, doctrinaire speeches about how it is the Government's fault that there are many unemployed people and that the regional policy is not working. The Labour party forgets the worldwide recession and the fact that consumer demand has dropped as a result. The hon. Member for Huddersfield forgets that he lives in a town.