§ 25. Mr. Freudasked the Secretary of State for Trade whether he will give the number of bankruptcies of businesses in each of the last five quarters, together with any available breakdown of figures, by size of company.
§ Mr. Eyre:Both bankruptcies and company liquidations have increased during the past five quarters, but the seasonally adjusted figures for both show a slight fall between the second and third quarters of 1980. Full details are given in the table below. I regret that no breakdown by size of firm is available.
for a system of opting, out by shareholders from contributions to political parties.
§ Mr. Eyre:No, because implementation of this suggestion would require an elaborate and bureacratic system imposing burdens on companies and shareholds which would be completely disproportionate to the relatively small sums involved.