§ Lord Northfieldasked Her Majesty's Government:
What are the five most successful industrial sectors contributing to Britain's manufacturing trade balance; and what plans they have to encourage further the industrial competitiveness of these sectors.
§ The Minister of State, Department of Trade and Industry (Lord Hesketh)There is no single satisfactory measure of what makes for a successful sector, traded or otherwise, and it is a matter of judgment as to the level of disaggregation among industrial activities one chooses for a particular purpose. The Government's approach is to create an environment in which firms generally can prosper, not to encourage the fortunes of this sector or that. Picking the winners is not a policy we think it wise to follow.