To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what has been the growth of manufacturing productivity in the economy since 1980.

Output per head in manufacturing rose by an average of over 5½ per cent. a year between 1980 and the three months ending August 1988—faster than in all other major industrial countries.

Does my right hon. Friend agree that we speak an awful lot about statistics in this place, but that behind the improved figures that he has given are the skills and qualities of individual men and women, who have worked hard to improve their businesses over recent years? Is it not an appropriate time to pay tribute to them and remind them of the debt that they owe to those who are training them increasingly well for the future of industry in this country?

I wholly agree with my hon. Friend. In terms of his constituency interests, he may be interested to know that regional gross value added in manufacturing in the north-west grew faster than the United Kingdom average between 1979 and 1986.