Part of Oral Answers to Questions — Trade and Industry – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 23 January 1991.
I thank my right hon. Friend for that reply. Does he agree that that achievement has been brought about largely by the massive improvement in productivity in the past decade, which for manufacturing has been better than that of any of our competitors? Does he also agree that the 45 per cent. improvement in business investment during the first three years of this Parliament bodes well for future profits? Will he confirm that a recent survey by 3i shows that 80 per cent. of the 750 largest companies thought that they were in better shape to prosper now than they were in the 1980s?