Tory ministers from 1980s fear return to mass unemployment

Lords King and Fowler say local and national leaders must learn from policies of Thatcher era

Two grandees of the Thatcher era have urged the government to learn lessons from the mass unemployment of the 1980s, as the Treasury draws up plans to limit a collapse in the jobs market caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

Tom King, who was employment secretary in 1983 when the grim milestone of 3 million unemployed people was reached, told the Guardian that ministers should be prepared to consider propping up potentially viable companies wherever possible, mindful that the economic crisis is a global one and thus harder to resolve.