§ 1. Mr. Strawasked the Secretary of State for Industry what has been the percentage fall in manufacturing and output since May 1979; and what is the corresponding average fall for all other Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries over the same period.
§ Mr. ButcherBetween the first half of 1979 and the third quarter of 1982 the index of manufacturing production for the United Kingdom fell by 16 per cent. compared with a fall of 3½ per cent. for the OECD as a whole. More recently however output in the OECD as a whole has fallen much more rapidly than in the United Kingdom: 5 per cent. in the year to Q3 1982 compared with only 1½ per cent. for the United Kingdom.