Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Manufacturing Investment on 7th June 1988.
Mr. Jack To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the effect of successive Budget changes on investment in manufacturing industry in the north.
Mr. Major The reductions in tax rates and increases in allowances in recent Budgets have improved incentives and stimulated enterprise, which will have contributed to higher investment throughout the country.
Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Manufacturing Output on 7th June 1988.
Mr. Thurnham To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement about manufacturing output during the last 12 months for which figures are available.
Mr. Major In the first quarter of 1988 manufacturing output was 5.5 per cent. higher than a year earlier.
Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Economic Output on 7th June 1988.
Mr. Anthony Coombs To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what has been the growth of economic output over the latest 12 months period for which figures are available.
Mr. Major Preliminary estimates show that the output-based measure of gross domestic product increased by 4½ per cent. between the first quarter of 1987 and the first quarter of 1988.
Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Productivity on 7th June 1988.
Mr. Jack To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what has been the annual growth of productivity for the whole economy since 1980.
Mr. Major Between 1980 and 1987, output per head in the whole economy increased by 20.5 per cent. This represents an annual average increase of 2.7 per cent. over the period.
Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Child Benefit on 25th May 1988.
Mr. Nicholas Bennett To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what consideration has been given to the taxation of child benefit; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Major I refer my hon. Friend to the reply that my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister gave the hon. Member for Woolwich (Mr. Cartwright) on 17 May.
Below are extracts from Mr Major’s speech made to a meeting of the Bolton West Patrons’ Club on Wednesday 25 May 1988. The extracts were published by Conservative Central Office as document 231/88 and the press release was entitled “The engine of economic recovery is gathering speed in all regions of the UK”.
JOHN MAJOR:
For many years the Labour Party have sought to reinforce their traditional strength in the North by promoting class conscious envy for party political reasons. The belittling of the achievements of the regions and opportunities facing them serves the divisive interests of the Labour Party. And it has damaged the North, delayed and diverted investment elsewhere, and made a parody of the attraction of the regions. But it can no longer hold back the economic recovery which is now sweeping through the regions. Conservative policies have made home owners of tenants and shareholders of workers.
The social and political climate has changed and will continue changing. The enterprise spirit is as strong in the North as elsewhere – where, after all, was the great industrial revolution in the first place – here in the North! And so it will be again. The fact is that the popular conception of the North South divide was always simplistic and is now becoming obsolete. The Budget has given regional prosperity a further boost. The regions are reviving and growing and the class conscious envy of the Labour Party cannot stop them.
The economy is doing well in all regions and the evidence is now too compelling to ignore.
Unemployment is coming down in all regions. It is coming down fastest in the West Midlands, the North West, and the North, followed closely by Yorkshire and Humberside and Scotland.
The number of new businesses has increased in all regions. And so have the number of job vacancies.
A recent survey by the Federation of Civil Engineering Contractors shows that in the North West, North Wales, Yorkshire, and the North East more than two-thirds of engineering firms report an increase in orders.
All that adds up to an excellent picture nationally. Unemployment has fallen every month for the past 21 months. And it is continuing to fall as the economy grows. Among the seven major industrialised countries of the world, unemployment is now falling most rapidly and consistently in the UK.
Moreover, in many ways the quality of life is higher outside the South East than in it.
Typical first-time buyers in the South East now devote 35% of their disposable income to mortgage payments. Their equivalents in the North West need pay only 17%, leaving a much greater proportion of gross income for non-housing expenditure.
The Regional Rewards survey indicated that the average family in the North needs only 54% of the income of a family in Greater London in order to maintain the same standard of living.
In a quality of life survey conducted by Glasgow University, towns outside the South East predominate. London comes 34th, largely because of its high cost of living.
The over-simplification of the North-South argument has done a great disservice to the North. It has encouraged the notion that economic good news is confined to the South East. It has led many to believe the North is missing out on the economic recovery. Frankly, that is nonsense and those who pursue such out-dated notions should come to the North and see the enterprise and revival that is taking place.
Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on the Gross National Product on 23rd May 1988.
Miss Lestor To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the gross national product for the United Kingdom in 1987.
Mr. Major Provisional estimates suggest that in 1987 gross national product, at current market prices and based on the average measure, was £419.9 billion.
Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Government Expenditure on 23rd May 1988.
Mr. Holland To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the share as a percentage of gross domestic product of (a) general Government expenditure and (b) general Government expenditure on goods and services in 1985–86 and 1986–87.
Mr. Major The following table shows general Government expenditure and general Government expenditure on goods and services as a percentage of gross domestic product:
SPENDING TYPE | 1985–86 (%) | 1986–87 (%)
General Government expenditure | 43.75 | 42.75
General Government expenditure on goods and services | 23 | 22.75
Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on External Financing on 23rd May 1988.
Mr. Blair To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will place in the Library a copy of the 1981 Ryrie guidelines on external financing by nationalised industries and similar organisations.
Mr. Major The Ryrie rules are an appendix to the Treasury paper entitled “Private Finance in Public Expenditure” which I placed in the Library of the House on 18 February. (Official Report, column 724 refers).
Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on the Finance Bill on 17th May 1988.
Mr. Arbuthnot To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will take steps, when any notes on clauses on the Finance (No. 2) Bill 1988 are published, to make them available to interested members of the public.
Mr. Major [holding answer 6 May 1988]: No. These notes are designed for Members examining the Finance Bill in Committee. They serve a transitory purpose only and are not intended as a permanent record. The general public is already well served by press releases issued on Budget day and on publication of the Finance Bill. The Treasury’s clause-by-clause summary of the Bill was reprinted in the Financial Times on 15 April.