§ Mr. Woodasked the Prime Minister what allowance was made, in his estimate of the effect of the Rhodesian situation on the British balance of payments, for the loss of invisible earnings; and whether, in spite of the difficulty of quantifying the cost, he made any allowance for the rise in the bill for copper imports and the consequent need to import aluminium as a substitute for copper, for the breakdown of the contract pricing system and the movement by the copper producers to the use of the London Metal Exchange price for contract copper, and for the loss of copper re-exports and of exports of semi-manufactured goods made out of copper.
§ The Prime MinisterAs to the effect on United Kingdom invisible earnings I would refer the right hon. Gentleman to the Answer given by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer on 7th February, 1967 [Vol. 740, c.275] to a Question by the hon. Gentleman the Member for Galloway (Mr. Brewis). As to the effect on copper, I would refer the right hon. Gentleman to the Answer which I gave to a Question by the right hon. Gentleman the Member for Streatham (Mr. Sandys) on 16th March.—[Vol. 743, c. 151.]