§ 32. Mr. Bruce-Gardyneasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the percentage increase in output per person employed in manufacturing industry in 1969; and 201 what change such estimate represents on the out-turn in 1968.
§ Mr. DiamondEstimates for 1969 as a whole are not yet available.
§ Mr. Bruce-GardyneIs it not already evident, however, that the rate of increased productivity has slumped? Can the right hon. Gentleman tell us what has happened to the productivity miracle about which the Prime Minister used to brag? Is this another example of the way that the Prime Minister no sooner discovers a miracle than it disappears?
§ Mr. DiamondI wish that the Prime Minister had the capacity to make certain things and certain persons disappear. The assumption in the first part of the hon. Gentleman's question is not correct, and the rest, therefore, does not follow.