§ Mr. Redwoodasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the current level of invisible earnings in the United Kingdom; and how it compares with the levels five and 10 years ago.
§ Mr. Norman LamontThe United Kingdom's invisibles surplus, which was £2.1 billion in 1977 and £.1.7 billion in 1982, is estimated to have been 0.7 billion in the year to mid-1987. That is the largest invisibles surplus of any country in the world.
§ Mr. RedwoodWhat surprisingly good figures the Financial Secretary has produced. Does he agree that those figures show that the service industries are important 444 generators of jobs, wealth and income, and that they are an important part of industrial recovery, because strong services help industries?
§ Mr. LamontMy hon. Friend is entirely right. As regards his point about employment, 2 million people are now employed in financial services and 1½ million in hotels and catering — an important part of the invisible earnings industry. That amounts to 15 per cent. of total employment, demonstrating that, exactly as my hon. Friend says, the invisibles are making an enormous contribution to recovery in this country.
§ Mr. Campbell-SavoursAre not profits from insider dealing a form of invisible earning? Why did the stock exchange surveillance department refuse to give me the names of the 30 people who speculated in Matthew Brown shares on the day before the S and N bid was announced? Why cannot those names be made public so that the general public will know who were the criminals who broke the law?
§ Mr. LamontI suggest that the hon. Gentleman gives me the details that he wants and I shall investigate them. I do not know to what he is referring.