§ Mr. Teddy Taylorasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will initiate an inquiry into the consequences for jobs in the United Kingdom of the £5,000 million deficit in manufactured goods with EC in 1982.
§ Mr. GummerNo. The United Kingdom's member-ship of the European Community provides us with a large number of jobs in both manufacturing and service industries. 42 per cent. of all our exports of commodities go to the rest of the Community and the consequences for jobs are extremely favourable. Our ability to compete in our own home market depends fundamentally on our producing goods of a competitive quality, price and design.