§ 54. Mr. Haleasked the Minister of Aviation what is the amount of provisional expenditure incorporated in the Defence Estimates for the current year in respect of Blue Streak.
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Value of U.K. Trade ‡ Year U. K. Production West Germany France Italy U. K. Imports U. K. Exports U. K. Imports U. K. Exports U. K. Imports U. K. Exports £ £ £ £ £ £ ✶ PLASTIC MATERIALS (Thousand tons) 1955 … … 316 2,334,290 304,809 259,044 866,284 381,424 796,465 1956 … … 336 2,416,099 348,586 261,988 1,629,508 252,995 1,194,847 1957 … … 391 3,250,469 723,407 477,218 2,088,502 406,905 959,673 1958 … … 416 4,171,044 1,340,664 539,016 1,964,617 664,413 1,089,386 1959 … … 501 5,350,975 1,308,975 664,878 1,851,611 563,133 1,471,553 †MAN-MADE FIBRES (Million lb.) 1955 … … 473 250,590 36,404 15,762 27,843 1,318 41,720 1956 … … 483 141,677 77,390 18,951 118,046 138 43,088 1957 … … 496 92,889 122,412 17,698 22,748 8,693 83,963 1958 … … 422 110,341 180,744 35,586 16,822 14,117 75,679 1959 … … 515 71,003 130,506 43,874 31,135 1,886 116,313 SYNTHETIC RUBBER (Tons) 1955 … … Nil 31,575 52 — 10,222 — 611 1956 … … Nil 42,850 26 197 10,074 — 398 1957 … … 750 3,426 1,194 34 10,097 — 160 1958 … … 11,300 5,849 27,652 11 10,399 187 16,785 1959 … … 56,990 16,138 81,351 50,135 252,043 53,894 63,229 ✶Production figures are not available. The figures given are sales by U.K. manufacturers. †Separate figures are not available for " synthetic " fibres. The figures given are in respect of all man-made fibres. ‡The figures relate only to the materials as listed and do not include any allowance for the content in finished and semi-finished products.
§ Mr. SandysIt is not possible to separate this expenditure with precision, since development facilities required for Blue Streak are required also for other projects. Depending upon how you make the calculation, the figure lies somewhere between £35 million and £42 million.