§ 51. Mr. Woodburnasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether the Government have made any change in their attitude to the danger of inflation; whether he is aware that rises in many prices and costs are constituting a threat to the purchasing power of our currency; and whether the Government propose to take any further steps towards avoiding serious inflation?
§ The Chancellor of the Exchequer (Sir John Anderson)While some prices and costs may have risen further in recent months, the prices of necessaries, as measured by the cost-of-living index, have remained stable. No new threat to the purchasing power of the £ can be said to have arisen, and I do not think the situation requires any new steps to be taken by the Government. But the dangers of inflation are no less present than before, and it is certainly necessary that the various anti-inflationary policies hitherto followed should continue to be rigorously applied.
§ Mr. Austin HopkinsonIs it not a fact that inflation is the only possible way out of the financial tangle in which we have involved ourselves?