§ Q15. Mr. William Hamiltonasked the Prime Minister whether, in view of current misunderstandings, he will restate Her Majesty's Government's policy on the desirability or necessity of maintaining a permanent pool of unused national resources as an instrument essential for economic growth without inflation.
§ The Prime MinisterI would refer my hon. Friend to the Statement made to this House by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer when introducing his Budget last April, and to my speech at Scarborough on 4th October, a copy of which is in the Library.
Estimates of future levels of unemployment must of course depend. so far as the winter is concerned, on the weather on the days when the count is taken and, for later periods of 1968, on, among other 558W things, the growth of world trade and the success of our exporters in seizing opportunities available to them. My hon. Friend will, however, have noted the change in the trend of the seasonally adjusted unemployment figures in recent months.