§ Mr. Hoyleasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the cost of sanctions to Ford (UK) over the next year ; for their duration how many vehicles will be involved in lost orders ; if any orders have already been withdrawn ; and if any Ford tenders, which would under normal circumstances have proved acceptable, have been 147W rejected as a result of Government sanctions.
§ Mr. Joel Barnett,pursuant to his reply [Official Report, 11th December 1978; Vol. 960, c. 49], gave the following information:
Government Departments' purchases of Ford products are very largely made on warrants placed against running contracts as and when required. Therefore there is no question of withdrawing orders already placed. No tenders from the Ford Motor Company for running contracts have been received since the application of discretionary action. It is not possible to estimate accurately how many Ford vehicles would have been bought over the next year if discretionary action were not being taken.