HC Deb 13 December 1979 vol 975 cc732-3W
50. Mr. Emery

asked the Secretary of State for Trade if he will list the number of agricultural tractors imported into tide United Kingdom in the first six months of 1970, 1975, 1978 and 1979 from the following countries: East Germany, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Hungary, and Romania, and the export of agricultural tractors from the United Kingdom to those countries over the same periods.

Mr. Tebbit

The information is as follows:

of the increase in manufactured exports prices over the period 1952 to 1978 to the corresponding increase in the wholesale price of manufacturers, where available, for each of the eight latest manufacturing countries;

Mr. Parkinson

As far as can be ascertained, information on wholesale

COMPARISONS OF EXPORT UNIT VALUE AND WHOLESAL PRICE INDICES—MANUFACTURES
UVI 1978 WPI 1978 (a)
UVI 1952 WPI 1952 (b)
(a) (b)
United Kingdom … … … 4.41 4.27 1.03
United States … … … … 2.78 2.49 1.12
Note:
The figures given above may not be wholly comparable because of differences in definition and compilation.
Sources:
United Kingdom—Department of Trade estimates.
United States of America—IMF International Financial Statistics 1979. UN Statistical Yearbook 1962. UN Monthly Bulletin September 1979.

Mr. Speller

asked the Secretary of State for Trade whether he will take steps to ensure that airlines operating Concorde over North Devon and the Bristol Channel, reroute or reschedule flights to avoid the recurring sonic booms that disturb residents at night.

Mr. Tebbit

Concorde begins and ends supersonic flight sufficiently far from land to ensure that no part of the United Kingdom is disturbed by primary sonic booms but under certain climatic conditions, which normally occur only during the winter months, a reflected or secondary boom of much lower intensity is some times heard in Devon and other counties in the South-West. The changes in routes and operating procedures that have already been made have substantially reduced the disturbance caused by these secondary booms. The situation will be kept under review, but it is unlikely that much more can be done without imposing unacceptable operating penalties on the aircraft.

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