§ Mr. Arthur Lewisasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether he will give the estimated public expenditure by the Government on trade, industry and employment in 1970–71, and to what extent he estimates an increase or decrease in this expenditure, in cash and percentage terms, by 1974–75, and, on the basis of the continuing depreciation of the purchasing value of the £ that has taken place between June, 1969, and 1st March, 1971, to what extent he estimates the 1974–75 figures will have to be adjusted to be comparable with the 1970–71 figures.
§ Sir J. EdenThe public expenditure figures on Trade, Industry and Employment for 1970–71 and 1974–75 (both at 1970 Survey prices) are set out in the White Paper on Public Expenditure (Cmnd. 4578, page 22). As stated by my right hon. Friend the Chief Secretary to the Treasury during the debate on Cmnd. 4578, it is not the Government's policy to make assumptions about future price movements.—[Vol. 812, c. 127.]