To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what was the number of working days lost because of industrial disputes in the six months to (a) December 1978 and (b) December 1991; and if he will make a statement.

There were 380,000 working days lost as a result of industrial disputes in the six months to November 1991, the latest available period. This is a fraction of the 6 million working days lost in the six months to December 1978. There are fewer strikes now than there have been for more than half a century.