UK Competitiveness

Question: That statement does not match the facts. The Institute of Management and Development, which ranks international competitiveness, ranked Britain ninth in 1997. It now ranks Britain as 20th in its index. Who is to blame?

Answer: The most recent ranking that I have seen is the one referred to by the Minister for Employment Relations and Postal Affairs, my hon. Friend the Member for Wolverhampton, South-East (Mr. McFadden), from the World Bank. It ranks the UK sixth out of 178 countries. The latest global competition review ranks the Competition Commission joint first in the world. The new stability that we have secured is the key to that. We used to be the least stable country in the G7 on the inflation measure. Since 1997, we have been the most stable. That is the key to Britain's new prosperity and to the huge improvements in the economy over the past decade—we are determined to maintain that.

Secondary information