asked the Secretary of State for Defence what study he has made of the effect of Armed Forces recruiting advertisements on industrial employment; and if he will ban recruiting advertisements on television and in the Press which could damage industrial production by attacking industrial jobs as dull and routine.

To the extent that the Armed Services and industrial employers compete in the same labour market, recruiting publicity for the Forces must inevitably have an effect on industrial employment. Advertisements for the Forces portray the career advantages the Services have to offer, such as the variety of Service life and the acquisition of skills and experience; the latter stand recruits in good stead when they return to civilian life and are of great benefit to industry at that stage. I do not think that such advertisements constitute a threat to industrial production or that there is a need to ban them.