asked the Prime Minister whether he is satisfied with the co-ordination between Ministers in achieving more open government.

Yes.

asked the Prime Minister when he next intends to meet the leaders of the TUC.

I met representatives of the TUC yesterday at the informal liaison committee between representatives of the TUC, Parliamentary Labour Party—including certain Ministers—and the National Executive Committee of the Labour Party. Meetings between the Government and the TUC will be arranged as necessary.

asked the Prime Minister what are his current criteria for making ministerial broadcasts.

The criteria for broadcasts of this kind, which were agreed between the broadcasting authorities and the main political parties, remain unchanged. They are

"to provide information or explanation of events of prime national or international importance or to seek the co-operation of the public in connection with such events".

asked the Prime Minister if he will consider moving the headquarters of any Government Department to Scotland.

There are no plans to do so but, as my hon. Friend will know, the decisions which we announced last July included the dispersal of 7,000 posts to Scotland and were based on a detailed study of Government headquarters work.

asked the Prime Minister whether the public speech of the Secretary of State for Energy on the social contract made to the Electrical Power Engineers' Association on 2nd April represented the policy of Her Majesty's Government.

asked the Prime Minister whether the public speech made by the Secretary of State for Education and Science in Blackpool on 1st April about the social contract represents Her Majesty's Government's policy.

Yes.

asked the Prime Minister whether he will pay an official visit to Codsall.

asked the Prime Minister whether he will visit North Staffordshire.

asked the Prime Minister what plans he has to make another visit to Cannock.

asked the Prime Minister whether he will pay an official visit to Ellesmere Port.

I have at present no plans to do so.

asked the Prime Minister if he will pay an official visit to Hanoi.

I have no plans to do so.

asked the Prime Minister whether he will pay an official visit to the East End of Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

I visited Newcastle earlier this year and have no immediate plans for a further visit.

asked the Prime Minister when he next expects to pay an official visit to a meeting of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation at Heads of Government level.

It has been agreed that the spring ministerial meeting of the North Atlantic Council, to be held on 29th and 30th May, will take place with the participation of Heads of State or Government. I intend to go to the meeting.

asked the Prime Minister if he will specify the contingency plans Her Majesty's Government have made should the majority of people in Great Britain vote "No" in the referendum.

I have nothing to add to the reply which I gave to the hon. Member for Aberdeenshire, West (Mr. Fairgrieve) on 27th March.

asked the Prime Minister if he will now announce the date of the proposed referendum.

My right hon. Friend the Lord President of the Council did so on 10th April.

asked the Prime Minister if he is satisfied with the operation of the arrangements laid down in his Written Answer of 7th April concerning the answering of Questions by Ministers who differ from the Government on EEC membership.

asked the Prime Minister whether he is satisfied with the working of the arrangements described in his Written Answer of 7th April regarding the answering of Parliamentary Questions directed to Ministers who themselves differ from the Government's recommendations on EEC membership.

I refer the hon. Members to the reply which I gave earlier today to the hon. Member for Chingford (Mr. Tebbit).

asked the Prime Minister whether he is satisfied with the operation of the guidelines about Government policy in regard to the European Economic Community as laid down in his Written Answer in the House on 7th April 1975.

Yes.

asked the Prime Minister whether the public statement by the Secretary of State for Trade in London on 23rd March on the EEC represents Government policy.

I refer my hon. Friend to the reply which I gave to the hon. Member for Reigate (Mr. Gardiner) on 17th April.

asked the Prime Minister if he is satisfied with the co-ordination between the Foreign Office, the Department of Trade and the Department of Industry in respect of the development of United Kingdom regional policies within the context of the EEC.

Yes.

asked the Prime Minister whether his recent discussions with Mr. Allon included reference to the creation of a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the Middle East.

No.

asked the Secretary of State for Industry if he will visit the steel works at Shotton, Ebbw Vale and East Moors to meet workers' representatives directly and learn from them their feelings regarding the future of their steel works.

No. Before his interim report on the British Steel Corporation's closure proposals, my right hon. and noble Friend the Minister of State visited all three works and discussed the proposals with representatives of the workers.

asked the Secretary of State for Industry if he is satisfied with the state of industry in Wales; and if he will make a statement.

We are well aware of the need to stimulate industrial

asked the Secretary of State for Industry what was the inflow of foreign direct investment into the United Kingdom from the United States of America and the eight other members of the EEC and the rest of the world for each year since 1960, and what these figures represented as percentages of total annual overseas direct investment.

I have been asked to reply. The available information is shown in the table below.

asked the Secretary of State for Industry what plans he has to bring forward mineral rights legislation.

There are no plans to bring forward legislation on this subject in the present Session.

asked the Secretary of State for Defence how many jobs in the West Midlands metropolitan county will be affected by defence cuts.

Defence cuts will have no significant effect on the numbers of Service personnel and Ministry of Defence civilians. Defence contractors in the area will be affected, including the Hawker Siddeley Aviation factory at Bitteswell and Rolls-Royce at Coventry. The number of job opportunites lost in the defence industries will depend on decisions by the management of the firms and developments in civil and export markets.

asked the Secretary of State for Defence if he will now give a general outline of the way in which the additional £110 million of defence cuts announced by the Chancellor of the Exchequer on 15th April 1975 will be carried out.

The bulk are expected to come from adjustments to the equipment and works programmes which are compatible with defence review capabilities.

asked the Secretary of State for Defence, of the 733 members of the British Forces seconded to non-NATO countries, what numbers are serving in Scotland and in Moray and Nairn, respectively; and to which countries have they in each case been seconded.

Of the 733 British Service men currently serving abroad on loan, in exchange posts or as members of British Service training teams with the armed forces of non-NATO countries, 32 were serving in Scotland prior to taking up their appointments; seven of the 32 were serving in Moray and Nairn. The countries in which they are now serving are listed below:

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement concerning the advice given by his Department to electoral registration officers that the organisers of campaigns in the coming referendum have to pay for copies of the electoral registers in each constituency out of the moneys provided by Parliament for the conduct of their campaigns.

Neither the Referendum Bill introduced on 26th March nor the draft Referendum Order (Cmnd. 6004) makes provision for any change in the existing regulations governing the supply of copies of the electoral register. Specific assistance for the campaign would under the present proposals be limited to the provision of grants to the two organisations named in Clause 3 of the Bill. Electoral registration officers who have inquired about this have been advised accordingly.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will give a break-down of the components of the £1,000 social wage to which he referred in his Budget speech.

The components of the social wage in 1974–75. as broadly estimated in the Budget speech, were:

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the benefit to industry of the deferment of tax on stock appreciation made in his last two Budgets.

pursuant to his reply [Official Report, 21st April], circulated the following answer:The effect on 1974–75 payments of corporation tax is estimated at £775 million, as shown in Table 6 of the 1974–75 Supplementary Financial Statement and Budget Report, and the effect on 1975–76 payments of income tax and corporation tax is estimated at £1,300 million, as given in footnote 2 to Table 4 of the 1975–76 Financial Statement and Budget Report.

asked the Minister of Overseas Development what proposals have been made by the Government on the funding of the new World Agricultural Fund; and what contributions will be made by Her Majesty's Government to the fund when established.

The Secretary-General of the United Nations is convening a meeting of interested Governments in Geneva early next month to consider the establishment of the fund. Representatives of Her Majesty's Government will be attending the meeting. I have already made it clear that we shall be very ready to make a British contribution if the fund seems likely to add usefully to international efforts for agricultural development.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment whether he will take steps to improve the employment prospects of those with very low levels of intelligence.

Such people will benefit from the planned improvements in the employment, rehabilitation and training services provided for disabled people by the agencies of the Manpower Services Commission, and from the continued expansion and improvement of facilities for sheltered employment.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what are the latest unemployment figures for Birmingham travel-to-work area.

On 10th March, 23,960 people were unemployed in the Birmingham travel-to-work area and the rate of unemployment was 3·5 per cent.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he is satisfied that the recently announced pay negotiations for civil servants are within the guidelines of the social contract.

This is a 26 per cent. settlement at an annual rate, including threshold payments already received. When account is taken of the once-for-all changes under the 1974 Pay Agreement to bring the pay research system up to date, the settlement is consistent with the social contract.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment whether he will make it his practice to make his views known on inflationary wage claims before the negotiations are completed rather than after.

No. The Government have repeatedly stressed the need for adherence to the pay guidelines and expect negotiators to take them into account in formulating wage claims, but I do not believe that Government pronouncement on each individual claim while negotiations are in progress would be helpful either in preventing disputes or in curbing inflation.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment whether he continues to be satisfied with the working of the social contract; and if any representations have been made for an alternative arrangement.

I would refer my hon. Friend to what I said in reply to a similar Question a little earlier. As far as representations about an alternative to the social contract are concerned, there has been no shortage of criticism both malicious and otherwise but constructive suggestions have been less evident and insistent.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment how many Parliamentary Questions tabled to him he has transferred following the Written Answer of the Prime Minister in the House on 7th April 1975.

Four.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a study of the provision of fringe benefits, cars, houses, services etc. to business executives to determine whether these benefits are in line with his policy on remuneration; and if he will make a statement.

Two references which the Government made last year to the Royal Commission on the Distribution of Income and Wealth—the reference on higher incomes and the standing reference on the distribution of income and wealth —asked the commission to include in its analysis earned income of all kinds including fringe and non-monetary benefits.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment to what extent he takes into account considerations of demand management in defining any given level of unemployment.

Questions about demand management are for my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer. In the long run, however, the three objectives of economic policy—namely full employment, price stability and a sound balance of payments position—are interdependent and none can be successfully pursued in isolation from the others.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what consideration his Department has given to the publication of a separate cost of living index for the low-paid; and whether he will now publish such an index.

Detailed consideration was given to the question of retail prices indices for special social or income groups by the Cost of Living Advisory Committee in its report of July 1968. The committee recommended the introduction of the two pensioner indices which my Department publishes but was not in favour of indices for other social groups. In particular it did not consider that there was a strong case at that time for compiling a special index for low-income households with children.I am satisfied that the General Index of Retail Prices gives an adequate indication of impact of price changes as they affect most households including the low paid and have no plans to publish special indices for that group. The situation will nevertheless be kept under review.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what was the value of applications made for assistance by the United Kingdom from the European Social Fund for the financial year 1974–75.

About £57 million.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he can now say when he proposes to bring forward the Government's proposals for increasing employee participation.

I have nothing to add at present to the reply which I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Ormskirk (Mr. Kilroy-Silk) on 14th February.—[Vol. 886, c. 220–21.]

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what a widow and a housewife, respectively, receive as a training grant where each attends a departmental training centre for training or retraining.

I am advised by the Manpower Services Commission that the basic allowance paid to a trainee under the Training Opportunities Scheme varies according to age and domestic responsibilities. A married woman living at home aged 20 or over without dependants receives a basic allowance of £14·80 per week.A widow is entitled to receive the same basic training allowance plus the appropriate children's allowance under TOPS. A widow who is in receipt of widowed mother's allowance under the National Insurance Scheme with increases for children may, if this is more advantageous to her, choose to continue to draw her full widowed mother's allowance, in which case an abated training allowance of £3·50 a week is payable.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment how many workers in the Scottish textile industry are now on short-time working.

In mid-March there were about 8,000 workers from the textile industry in Scotland known to my Department to be working short time.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what requirements are contemplated in connection with medical examinations for employees as provided for under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act.

There are a number of existing health and safety regulations, principally made under the Factories Act, which provide for medical examinations. I understand from the Chairman of the Health and Safety Commission that except under the draft Coal Mines (Respirable Dust) Regulations, on which consultations are proceeding, no other requirements in connection with medical examinations are contemplated at present under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will now increase the level of training allowances paid to unemployed young people attending industrial appreciation courses.

I am informed by the Manpower Services Commission that the allowances paid to young people on short industrial courses were increased on 10th April 1975, as were the allowances paid to all trainees. A comparison of the old and new rates for trainees aged 16, 17 and 18 without dependants is given below:

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what facilities are available in the Essex County Council area, and Basildon in particular, for training and retraining; and what numbers can be accommodated.

I am informed by the Manpower Services Commission that there are over 575 training places available under the Training Opportunities Scheme in the Essex County Council area, including about 190 places in the Basildon area.Of these 262 are in skillcentres, the rest being in colleges of further education and employers' establishments. The facilities available are flexible as TOPS trainees can be placed in any college vocational course to meet individual training requirements. On 31st March 1975, 504 people were receiving training under TOPS including 145 in the Basildon area.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment how many persons from the employment exchange at Blaydon have received training at Government training centres since January 1973.

I am informed by the Manpower Services Commission that

asked the Secretary of State for Employment how many men in the North-East aged between 50 and 60 years and between 60 and 64 years are registered as unemployed.

At July 1974 the numbers were 7,454 aged 50 to 59 and 7,730 aged 60 to 64. Owing to industrial action at local offices of the Employment Service Agency the normal half-yearly analysis of the unemployed by age is not available for January 1975.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment (1) how many persons under 18 years of age are registered as unemployed in the North-East, at the latest available date;(2) how many school leavers at the last school leaving date in the North-East are registered as unemployed.

The latest date for which information is available about all young persons under 18 who are unemployed is July 1974. Normally statistics providing this information are compiled

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what was the number of male and female employees registered as industrial workers in the North-East, and the number unemployed for each of the last five years.

The following table shows the available information. The statistics of employees in employment are from the annual censuses of employment which are made in June each year. The most recent census figures are for June 1973.twice a year, in January and July, but the count due in January 1975 was not made due to industrial action at local offices of the Employment Service Agency. However, special counts are made each month of the numbers of school leavers under age 18 who are unemployed, and the figure for March 1975 for the North-East was 475.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment how many redundancies within Scotland have been notified to his Department in the past 12 months.

I am informed by the Manpower Services Commission that redundancies involving some 21,700 people in Scotland were notified during the 12 months ended 31st March 1975.

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what was the average industrial weekly earnings of all full-time manual workers for the years 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973 and 1974, respectively, to the latest convenient date.

The latest information available comes from the Department's October 1974 inquiry into the earnings and hours of manual workers. Following is the information.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish in the Official Report a list of buildings in the area administered by the West Midlands Metropolitan County Council which are designated as being of historic or architectural importance.

There are 65 lists and amendments covering 1,313 buildings and I will send my hon. Friend those for any districts in which he lets me know he is interested. All lists for the West Midlands can also be inspected at the offices of the county council.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what action he has taken and what meetings he has held, with whom and on what dates, in connection with the general well-being of the building and civil engineering industries in Scotland.

The Government have taken various measures to assist the construction industry. Total output and new orders in Scotland have fallen less than elsewhere in Great Britain. The main forum for formal consultation between the Government and the industry is the National Consultative Council for the Building and Civil Engineering Industries, of which I am chairman, and its committees. The last meeting of the council, which covers the whole of Great Britain, was on 19th March. The Department has a Joint Advisory Panel for the Building and Civil Engineering Industries in Scotland; the panel last met on 13th February. In order that I can have more direct contact with the industry I have recently established, under my chairmanship, a Construction Industry Liaison Group which will be concerned with the situation in Great Britain; its first meeting will be on 24th April. In addition I have frequent informal contacts with representative bodies in the industry.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what he estimates to be the total acreage of derelict land in the counties of Northumberland and Durham; and how much of this figure is capable of reclamation.

The latest available information, from the Local Authority Survey showing the position as at 1st April 1974, is as follows:

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the number of planning appeals outstanding relating to Gateshead Metropolitan Borough Council; and how many have been approved.

Eight appeals were outstanding at 17th April 1975. Six have been allowed since 1st April 1974.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the number of planning appeals outstanding relating to Tyne and Wear County Council; and how many have been approved.

48 appeals relating to sites within the county of Tyne and Wear were outstanding at 17th April 1975. 24 appeals have been allowed since 1st April 1974.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he will announce his Department's intention on implementing the Greater London Development Plan as outlined in the Lay-field Inquiry.

My right hon. Friend will make a statement outlining the modifications to the plan. He hopes to do this at an early date.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what were the total numbers of staff employed in local government in England and Wales for the years 1970–71 to 1973–74 directly relating to the total salaries and wages bills which he listed in his Written Answer to the hon. Member for the Isle of Wight (Mr. Ross) on 5th February 1975.

I am unable to add to the information my right hon. Friend gave to the hon. Member on 27th March 1975.—[Vol. 889, c. 258.]

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment how many people are employed by the Small Industries Council for rural areas of Scotland.

Fifty-eight.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what steps he is taking to ensure co-operation between water authorities and local authorities to prevent the breeding of rats in water authority sewers.

None. I understand that the administrative difficulties which existed between some water and local authorities have now been resolved satisfactorily.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) if he will make a statement on the recent visit of the Minister of Housing to Liverpool;

On 10th April I was in Liverpool to chair a meeting of the steering committee of the Liverpool Inner Area Study. The study is investigating, by way of research and of action projects, the linked environmental social and economic problems of one part of the inner area of Liverpool. It is being carried out by consultants and is directed by a steering committee of local authority members under my chairmanship. The committee considered a review by the consultants of the findings of the study so far and approved their programme of work for the final phase of the study. Both these documents will be published.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what were the numbers of visitors to the Tower of London for the years 1970 to 1974, respectively, and the receipts from such visits.

The figures are:

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what plans the Government have to encourage local authorities to increase house building programmes in the inner areas of large cities.

We have just concluded a series of regional consultations with local authorities and house builders with the object of increasing the housing programme. The financial and legislative framework of the Housing Act 1974, the Housing Rents and Subsidies Act 1975 and other measures taken on the cost yardstick and various policy circulars provide the basis for increased house building, municipalisation and renovation of old properties in inner city areas. I am always ready to consider particular problems in stepping up such programmes, if my hon. Friend will give me details. Meanwhile, he will also have noted that the savings in capital expenditure announced by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer involve no reduction in the building of new council houses.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what were the numbers of visitors to ancient monuments, excluding the Tower of London, for the years 1970 to 1974, respectively, and the receipts from such visits.

The figures, which relate to England, are:

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment which provisions of the Control of Pollution Act 1974 have now been brought into operation; and if he can now say when he expects to bring into operation those sections which deal with waste disposal and the control of noise.

Commencement orders have been made in respect of Sections 43 and 44, dealing with the control of discharges into sewers, various supplementary provisions and certain of the amendments and repeals to other legislation listed in Schedules 3 and 4.As envisaged in my hon. Friend's answer of 3rd February, discussions are now in progress with the local authority associations about the timetable for implementing Part I of the Act, which deals with waste disposal. Similar discussions have been completed on Part III dealing with noise and I hope that this part of the Act will be implemented before the Summer Recess.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will arrange for the letter marked "Urgent" and sent to him at his Department's request by the hon. Member for St. Albans registering his objection to the building of a toxic waste plant on land at Gorhambury, just outside Redbourn, and outlining his reasons therefor, to be read out at the public inquiry when it is resumed for the summing up on Thursday 24th April.

Yes. This has been arranged.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment why the public inquiry into the toxic waste disposal plant proposed to be built on land at Gorhambury, just outside Redbourn, was brought forward from September to March, with the effect that potential objectors had only six weeks in which to prepare their case against the project.

The environment aspects of the proposed development made it advisable that priority be given to this appeal, and the public inquiry was arranged for 18th March.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what financial assistance, if any, is available from EEC sources to subsidise the provision of mains water to farm dwellings in remote underprivileged hill areas.

There is provision under the regulations establishing the Regional Development Fund for a contribution to public authorities undertaking infrastructure works in those parts of the United Kingdom which fall within both assisted areas—including Northern Ireland—and the Community's less favoured farming areas. However, I am unable at this stage to predict the precise effects of the provision on any particular type of undertaking.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will now update and correct the tables of comparative food prices in and out of the EEC

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what representations have been received from the Common Market Commission concerning United Kingdom imports of French eggs: and if he will make a statement.

We have received no such representations.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list the countries from which imports of meat have been banned since 1st January on account of foot-and-mouth disease.

Subject to the reservations I made in my reply on 13th March last, a revised table showing the latest information available for February 1975 is set out below:

The import of uncooked meat from Belgium was prohibited on 12th March 1975 on account of outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease in that country. This prohibition was lifted on 21st April following improvement in the disease situation there.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what estimates have been made of the volume of wheat produced in the EEC that will be carried over at the end of the 1974–75 cereal marketing campaign; and what are the plans for its disposal.

I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Bristol, North-West (Mr. Thomas) on 20th March 1975.—[Vol. 888, c. 485.]

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what action has been taken by the Government to help implement the World Food Conference resolution on internationally co-ordinated national stockpiles of grain.

The Government have recently advised the Director-General of the FAO that they are prepared to co-operate in the implementation of the objectives, policies and guidelines contained in the International Undertaking on World Food Security, which was endorsed by the World Food Conference, and which envisages international co-ordination of national grain stocks.There are many practical difficulties which need to be resolved before the stockholding provisions of the under-taking can be implemented and the Government are participating in international discussions with the aim of resolving them. In common with the rest of the European Community, we are ready in the context of the present multilateral trade negotiations to negotiate commodity agreements for a number of basic food-stuffs, including cereals, which would include provisions for stockpiling linked with price provisions with the object of stabilising the market. Such agreements would help to meet the requirements of that part of the international undertaking relating to stocks. The International Wheat Council, to which Community Governments belong, has set up a group to examine the implications of introducing a new International Wheat Agreement. Within the FAO, work is proceeding on the examination of technical problems involved in stockpiling.These are complex matters and some of them will take time to negotiate but there is every prospect of positive results.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he is satisfied with the state of the poultry sector of the agriculture industry; and if he will make a statement.

I recognise that the poultry sector has faced difficulties but poultrymeat prices have in general been higher so far this year than last and egg prices have risen in the last few weeks. Feed prices have been easing. The White Paper "Food from our own Resources" presented to Parliament on 17th April (Cmnd. 6020) set out our view that our producers can satisfy the entire growth in demand forecast for these products in the period up to 1980 and that this is a reasonable objective for the industry.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what are the likely effects on employment in development areas following the implementation of EEC regional policies.

It is the purpose of the Regional Development Fund to help create and maintain employment in the assisted areas of member countries, including the United Kingdom, Resources available from other Community funds, including the Social Fund and the European Investment Bank, also serve this purpose. The new rules for co-ordinating regional aids should help to avoid the diversion of investment opportunities to more prosperous areas in other member States through the bidding-up of regional incentives.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the companies which have been taken into public ownership by the six original members of the EEC since the Common Market was formed.

I regret that this information is not readily available. I will circulate it in the Official Report.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Common-wealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the recent meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the nine EEC States held near Dublin, in particular as it related to the United Kingdom referendum campaign and its outcome.

I would refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave on 21st April to my hon. Friend the Member for Newham, South (Mr. Spearing).

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Common-wealth Affairs if he will indicate each of the powers the EEC Commission has over investment, mergers and prices in the United Kingdom steel industry, and what alterations he estimates there will be to those powers in three years' time.

These problems are fully discussed in the White Papers on renegotiation (Cmnd. 5999 and 6003).