§ 36. Sir T. Mooreasked the President of the Board of Trade whether he is aware that the pre-war price of khaki industrial shirts for men was 2s. 11d. each, whereas now the permitted price is 19s. 9d.; and what is the reason for this increase.
Mr. H. WilsonThe present highest maximum retail price for a utility khaki industrial shirt is 18s. 11d. I am not in a position to say at what price a similar shirt would have been sold before the war, but there has undoubtedly been a large increase in price since then. This increase is due to the eight-fold increase in the price of raw cotton and to higher costs of manufacture and distribution
§ Sir T. MooreDoes not this one item alone, even amongst many other thousands, make nonsense of the Government's constant claims that they are reducing the cost of living for the workers, who are the persons hardest hit by this fantastic increase?
§ Mrs. Jean MannWould my right hon. Friend not agree that the khaki industrial shirt at 2s. 11d. became an absolute rag after the first washing and is not comparable at all with the present shirt?