Employment Law
Debate between Lord Ryder of Wensum and Lord De Mauley
Lord De Mauley
I can find very little to disagree with in what the noble Baroness has said. I absolutely welcome the restraint that I know employees are exercising in this extremely difficult time. We really need and are grateful for their help where this is happening, and I agree with her that it is widespread. People are working beyond the call of duty, and that is a huge accolade for our workforce. We spoke earlier about the need for co-operation between workers and employees, and that must be for the good.
The noble Baroness asked about the Government’s aspirations for women in the workplace. She will know that there is a great deal of work going on and that the Government are very much focused on this as an important issue.
Lord Ryder of Wensum
Is my noble friend aware that unemployment in Germany has fallen by a significant margin over the last five years, largely as a result of supply-side measures that have been introduced by the German Government? Will my noble friend please draw these measures to the attention of the Business Secretary and ask him why he has not already followed the German example, if he really is serious about reducing youth unemployment?
Lord De Mauley
My Lords, of course I will draw that to the attention of my right honourable friend.
Economy
Debate between Lord Ryder of Wensum and Lord De Mauley
Lord De Mauley
My Lords, the noble Lord, Lord Myners, has put his finger on a very important point. He is right to point out that it is important that the banking sector does not contract. We need to rebalance by bringing up manufacturing and other sectors.
Lord Ryder of Wensum
My Lords, further to the question posed by the noble Lord, Lord Kinnock, will my noble friend please clarify whether Portugal, Spain, France, Germany, Italy and Ireland have already announced or undertaken public expenditure reductions on a greater scale than we have here in the United Kingdom in order to address the public and the private sectors and to reduce our massive deficit?