Economy: Alan Walters diary [potential oil price fall; “piddling around” with excise duties to reduce RPI; ministers desire more creation of jobs][released 2012]

Friday 12th February 1982

Meetings all day

Budget - fears about reduction of oil prices will reduce manpower by at least ½ billion

- but will also reduce Exchange Rate by a bit.

- main thing to avoid is tightening monetary policy to validate exchange rate target.

VAT + Excise Duties - lots of piddling around trying to massage RPI down to ¼ or ½% petrol or cigs. JBG [Jock Bruce Gardyne] keen on getting tax down on cigs.

Julian Amery, Maurice McMillan [sic: Macmillan], Sir William Clark

Leon Brittan, Norman Tebbitt [sic], on new employment initiatives - C/E [Chancellor of the Exchequer] and LB [Leon Brittan] had thought nothing in Heseltine’s package and that we should move along Sam Brittan’s lines to “create” jobs.

Derx [Donald Derx] at D.Emp very suspicious - but my scheme is going well - D of Emp + Quinlan sent off to work something up.

[13-14 February entries blank]