§ Mr. Wingfield Digbyasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what was the percentage of ships flying the British flag of the 17,700 thousand tons of vessels in the foreign trade which entered and cleared British ports in November, 1970; and why his Department intends to cease compiling such statistics in future.
§ Mr. Eldon GriffithsBritish vessels accounted for about 38 per cent. of the 17,700 thousand net registered tons of vessels which entered and cleared United Kingdom ports with cargo in the foreign trade in November, 1970. My Department is ceasing to compile these figures because there are now other sources of information about the share of British vessels in our foreign trade and in order to economise in staff.