Thatcher lists jobs as a priority

Press, 3 January 1985, Page 15

Thatcher lists jobs as a priority

NZPA-Reuter London The British Prime Minister, Mrs Margaret Thatcher, has responded to increasing public concern about Britain’s record unemployment by saying she would make jobs a priority in 1985. In a New Year’s message, Mrs Thatcher said: “In 1985, when for so many people the main concern will be employment, let all of us accept our responsibility to help create more jobs.” The message, published in a Conservative Party magazine, also said that the Government was determined to reduce income tax and continue its policy of returning to private hands industries run by the State. The jobless total in 1984 topped 3.25 million, more than 13 per cent of the workforce, and the Thatcher Government came under fire from its supporters for

not doing enough to create jobs. Referring to an I.R.A. bomb attempt on her life and those of senior Government Ministers in October, Mrs Thatcher said: “Murderers who struck at the very heart of our Government and of our party only strengthened still further the united resolve of the British people and Parliament never to give in to acts of terrorism.” Mrs Thatcher said the rule of law had been tested in the nine-month-old coal miners’ strike. She said force had been used to drag out the dispute. But referring to miners who had defied the walkout, she said, “Thousands and thousands of miners will not give in to force.” Mrs Thatcher urged managers and workers to provide goods and services

that customers demanded at a price they could afford. Pay increases had to be related to productivity, she said.

“We are seeing a rebirth of personal responsibility. It will bring new hope for our country and new heart to our people,” she said. The Opposition Leader, Mr Neil Kinnock, who may face a leadership challenge next year from the Left of his Labour Party, attacked the Government’s economic record in a New Year message.

He pointed to unemployment, rising bankruptcies, and a record fall in the value of the British pound. “But the pride and the prejudice of this Government will ensure that, in 1985, they will pursue the same policies — with the same results,” Mr Kinnock said.