§ MR. LEVERTON HARRISTo ask the President of the Board of Trade, what is the percentage of unemployment shown by the latest official Returns of Germany; and what was the amount of unemployment in the United Kingdom at approximately the same date.
(Answered by Mr. Kearley.) It has been repeatedly explained by the Board of Trade that the official Returns of German trade unionists unemployed cannot be properly compared with those of the United Kingdom, because for several reasons the proportion of the unemployed members of trade unions in the United Kingdom who are entitled to unemployed benefit (and so certain to report themselves as unemployed) is much greater than in Germany, where the percentage returned as unemployed is accordingly understated. At the end of December last the official percentage for Germany was 2.6; but for the reasons given above I can quote no comparable figure for the United Kingdom.