§ Mr. Tebbitasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the Prime Minister's undertaking to look into the accuracy of the figures upon which the right hon. Lady the Leader of the Opposition based her contention that in the matter of jobs, prices, output and growth, the Labour Government were either at the bottom or next to the bottom of the league of Governments taking part in the Bonn Summit Meeting, if he has yet completed his inquiries; and if he will publish statistics to show for each of the seven countries: (a) unemployment rates for the first quarter of 1978, (b) the percentage change in unemployment since February 1974 to the latest available 793W date, (c) the increase in consumer prices from February 1974 to the latest available date, (d) the increase in food prices from February 1974 to the latest available date and (e) the percentage change in output per person employed in manufacturing output and in gross domestic product at constant prices, between 1973 and the latest available date, to illustrate his answer.
§ Mr. Healey,pursuant to his reply [Official Report, 24th July 1978], gave the following information:
The particular figures for which the hon. Member has asked have all been given in reply to recent Questions. I refer him in particular to the Question or Questions asked by the hon. Members for:
- Croydon, Central (Mr. Moore) on 23rd May.
- Chingford (Mr. Tebbit) on 6th June.
- Chertsey and Walton (Mr. Pattie) on 6th June.
- Croydon, Central (Mr. Moore) on 23rd June.
- Leek (Mr. Knox) on 26th June, 27th June and 29th June.
- Surrey, North-West (Mr. Grylls) on 4th July.
- Reigate (Mr. Gardiner) on 10th July.
The inquiries to which the hon. Member refers have also produced the following figures:
INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION (Percentage change) February 1973 to February 1974 April 1977 to April 1978 Japan 9.0 5.7 United States 1.0 4.9 Germany 1.5 0.5 France 5.9 4.8 Italy 14.2 -1.2 Canada 6.0 2.1 United Kingdom -6.3 2.6
CONSUMER PRICES (Percentage change) February 1973 to February 1974 May 1977 to May 1978 Japan 25.9 3.9 United States 10.0 6.9 Germany 7.7 2.7 France 11.5 9.0 Italy 13.2 12.3 Canada 9.6 9.0 United Kingdom 11.8 8.6