§ Mr. SteenTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the total number of suicides of young people(a) aged under 21 years and (b) aged between 21 and 30 years in 1991 and the two preceding years; and if he will express these figures as a percentage of the total number of deaths by suicide in those three years.
§ Mr. YeoI have been asked to reply. The information is shown in the table.
The number of reported suicides (ICD* E950–E959) of young people (a) aged under 21 years; (b) aged 21–29 years; and (c) these numbers expressed as a percentage of the total number of deaths by suicides in each of those years. England and Wales 1989, 1990 and 1991.
ICD* International Classification of Diseases; ninth revision.
§ Mr. NelsonI have no plans to introduce controls aimed at curbing the activities of speculators in the currency market.
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§ Mr. AllenTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the Government's policy in regard to the inclusion by banks in their ethical policies of an undertaking not to speculate against the pound.
§ Mr. NelsonThis is a matter for the banks not the Government. But as a practical matter it would be impossible to distinguish so-called speculation from transactions driven by the genuine needs of customers such as fund managers and corporate treasurers who are taking investment decisions or hedging in the foreign exchange market to protect themselves from currency fluctuations. Moreover it would not be realistic to impose restraints on UK-based banks when sterling is traded worldwide.