Interviewer, Tyne Tees TV
Prime Minister, Neil Kinnock in a speech in Darlington last night talked about the divided kingdom under the Conservatives. He talked about “chuck away communities, with disposable people” . How do you respond to that kind of criticism?
MT
In two ways. Whenever we're in the North East, or Scotland or elsewhere, where their level of unemployment is slightly above—or more above—the United Kingdom average, our approach is a very position one. We try to get more business here. So today I've been to new shopping centre at Gateshead. Six thousand jobs there already, will go up to 11,000 jobs. One of the best shopping centres in the whole of the United Kingdom. We went on to Black & Decker. An excellent factory, couldn't be run better, couldn't have a better workforce, better management, all working together. Yesterday a Glaxo factory was opened near here. Again, bio-technology. Indiscarn [phonetic] in Darlington has new orders worth £20m. When Sizewell goes ahead, and the Dartford Bridge, some of the work will be done here. This is not a divided kingdom. This is the north doing some of the work that will eventually certainly bear fruit in the south, like the Dartford Tunnel, like the Channel Tunnel. But always, we do not talk a great deal but we try to get the jobs here. Last time I was here or was it the time before I opened the new Nissan Factory. The time before I went to Darlington and Simpson—an excellent steel factory, couldn't be better, exporting into the United States. Let's talk about the success and then we'll get more companies here.
Interviewer, Tyne Tees TV
There is success, that's true, but what about those areas—Hartlepool, Middlesbrough—where unemployment is over twenty per cent? What message do you have for people—if you were a Tory candidate knocking on doors in Middlesbrough, what would you say?
MT
I think, three. First, we are putting in Middlesbrough, as you know, an Urban Development Corporation, which has achieved great things in London Dockland and also in Merseyside and now we've got four more. There's a great demand for them. Second, new jobs come from successful business so never run it down. Do everything you can to run up a region. Excellent communications here, excellent further education establishments, excellent companies already here. Those are the two very important things. And third, just remember, it's not Toryism that divides a region, it's Labour. Labour is built on class warfare. That is a socialist doctrine. If they hadn't kept it alive it would have gone by now. Ours is the uniting effect. We are constantly trying to bring new business here, but also we say “look, we want more and more people to enjoy home ownership” —now we're right up to 65 per cent in England— “we want more and more people to own shares” —so when we privatised we gave special chances to those who worked in a business to have shares, eight and a half million [end p1] people own shares. A lot of those would be taken away from them as equity shares under Labour and be given little pieces of paper signed and backed by a Labour Chancellor of the Exchequer. You know what happened to inflation last time. We want to say to people “look, we want you to pay less tax, so you can actually build your own capital by saving out of earnings, and when you do those savings will keep their value” . That is the uniting feature. Every owner, every earner and owner, and extended shareholding and our trade union legislation, this has replaced conflict with cooperation. They divide, we in fact get much more harmony and teamwork.
Interviewer, Tyne Tees TV
But isn't it true that the poor and unemployed aren't able to share in that kind of success that you are talking about? What can you do for them? Isn't the Labour manifesto, promising 100,000 jobs in the North East, more benefits, isn't that the sort of programme that's likely to appeal to people who have nothing?
MT
Had I come to you in 1983 and promised a million jobs between 1983 and now, I doubt whether you would have believed it. I don't believe Labour can create a million GENUINE jobs, because genuine jobs come from successful business and on the whole politicians do not know how to create that or how to run it. That's why we run the kind of economy which enables other people to do that. Er, so, … but nevertheless, because of the way we ran the economy, a million jobs HAVE been created since 1983 and as you know unemployment is now falling. Yes, you do refer to better social services, better social provision. The only way to get that is to have a more successful industry. If you get a Labour Government trying to tap money off industry, to create artificial jobs, the money that that industry would have invested—perhaps in the North East—to create more jobs, will go away and be tapped away. We have a higher standard of living than ever before, higher manufacturing exports than ever before. If you want to get better provision for those who are less fortunate, someone has to create the wealth. It is happening under this Government, a lot of it would be snuffed out under Labour.
Interviewer, Tyne Tees TV
The message that seems to come over so often is that it is up to the region to pull itself up by its bootstraps. Is that a fair assessment of your philosophy?
MT
Not quite. Don't forget you have a marvelous communication system in the North East. You take advantage of some of the grants that can come into the North East, whether they are regional aid or whether they are things like innovation grants, and those often are able wherever people go with them. I've seen an innovation grant today, working in Black & Decker. So you take advantage … What we can do is to put the ball at the feet, you have to have people to kick it. It is … would you please—if I have said this when I was here before—sing of your successes in the North East! They are many. I sing them. That is the way to get more people here.
Interviewer, Tyne Tees TV
Well, indeed, on a previous visit you called us—and me in particular—a “moaning minnie” . Do you still think that we are moaners? [end p2]
MT
No, but when I was at Black & Decker today, I said to one of the managers today “I guess the first question that people will ask me, ah, when the press come is ‘why have you only come to a successful company’, I said ‘I will tell you the answer I will give them—if you want to sell the north east, if you want it to get more prosperous, then you have got to come and show the kind of success that is achieved and the kind of teamwork, cooperation, that is achieved in the north east’” . And do you know, as we walked out, one of the pressmen just broke ranks with all the others and came over and said to me: “Mrs Thatcher, why do you only come to the successful companies” . I'll tell you: there are a lot of them. And I want more. And the way to get more is to say what a marvelous place the North East is to work and how well factories do.
Interviewer, Tyne Tees TV
Thank you.
MT
Thank you.