‘U.K. Productivity Lagging'

Press, Issue 30997, 1 March 1966, Page 1

‘U.K. Productivity Lagging '

Unless Britain’s workers raised their productivity soon, there would be hard times and unemployment, said Lord Shawcross, a leading British legal and pclitical figure, in Christchurch yesterday.

The slow increase in productivity was because of re-

strictive practices of the trade unions, he said. Industry was willing to install modern plant, but there was resistance from the trade unions, which were afraid of redundancy.

There was no danger of unemployment unless productivity dropped very badly. If, because of the attitude of the unions, that happened, there would be large-scale unemployment The mistakes of the unions would then be realised. But that was a very grim remedy for the situa-

tion, which he hoped would be avoided.

Many of the newspapers, including those which were Labour-orientated, had realised the danger and were speaking out. The Prime Minister (Mr Wilson) and other Government ministers had also spoken strongly, and that and the warnings of the press might well bring a change of heart

Straight talking on the subject was something that the Labour Party could do successfully, whereas the Conservatives could not, said Lord Shawcross.