§ Mr. Madelasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether, following the Secretary of State for Industry's answer to the hon. Member for Bedfordshire, South on 23 February, he will confirm that no assumptions were made in regard to employment in the public sector industries following publication of the recent public expenditure White Paper.
§ Mr. Joel BarnettThe figures in the public expenditure White Paper refer, of course, to the industries' external financing needs. There is an indirect connection between these figures and the assumptions about future employment levels made by the industries which, as I told the hon. Member on 23 February, are a matter for those industries themselves.