§ Mrs. Reneé Shortasked the Secretary of State for Employment on what evidence he bases his view that reducing the working week to 35 hours will increase unemployment.
§ Mr. Jim LesterThe view ascribed in this question to my right hon. Friend is an over-simplification of a complicated question. But it is true to say that to bring198W about shorter hours in the United Kingdom alone, unaccompanied by offsets to weekly rates or substantial improvements in output per worker, would lead to a loss of competitiveness and the result could be a net loss of jobs.