European Union (Accessions) Bill

My right hon. and learned Friend and I agree on many things, but not on that. The ALMO cannot meet the targets laid down by central Government because of a shortage of labour. We still have some unemployment on Tyneside, although it is less than half what it was in 1997, but we do not have an adequate supply of skilled labour or people who are prepared to train to take up those skills. In the case of the ALMO in Newcastle, we need to train local people as best we can, but we should not be embarrassed if we fail to train sufficient numbers and must look elsewhere to find skilled labour. We can all provide examples from our constituencies of that pattern, which arises across Europe. Germany is now a honey pot for immigrants from a much wider area than Turkey, and the Scandinavian countries and Ireland now contain a large proportion of immigrants, who are meeting vital labour shortages. When I ask the Government to be positive in their interpretation of clause 2, my central point is that migration has changed the nature of our economy in the same way as Mexican migrants have changed the American economy. When I studied economics a very long time ago, we referred to overheating in the south and the lack of heat in the north—the main reason why we had to adopt deflationary policies was that the south overheated when the necessary labour was not available. Labour demand shot up wage rates, which had a detrimental effect on the whole economy. Migration has enabled a number of countries, including our own, Scandinavian countries and Ireland, to maintain a high level of aggregate demand and to continue to have growth without having wage inflation. Jobs have been filled by people from other parts of Europe, particularly. That is the same pattern throughout the developed world. In that context, migration has been a positive factor in the UK economy. It has not been a negative factor for those who have been left, for instance, in Moldova, Romania or Bulgaria. People working here have been remitting funds to their own countries. That has helped to raise living standards in those countries. Statistics show that more than 40 per cent. of Moldova’s GNP is the result of remittances from countries in the EU. That is positive for everyone.