§ Mr. Adleyasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on his assessment of the relationship between strikes and employment.
§ Mr. Peter BottomleyWhile it is impossible to make an accurate estimate, strikes definitely put employment at risk. In the short term, output is lost and orders go to competitors—in the case of national strikes, particularly to overseas competitors. Export orders are lost and some of the orders lost in previous strikes have not been recovered.