HC Deb 20 November 1952 vol 507 cc2040-1
43. Lieut.-Colonel Lipton

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer by how much the purchasing value of the £ sterling has varied since October, 1951.

Mr. Boyd-Carpenter

Taking the figure for October, 1951, as 20s. the corresponding figure for October, 1952, was 18s. 9d. This answer is based on the Interim Index of Retail Prices of the Ministry of Labour.

Lieut.-Colonel Lipton

Is not this substantial cut in the value of the £ all the more vicious as it is the deliberately intended result of Government policy? Is not the Government in the light of their pledges, which are too well known and too numerous to mention, guilty of a cynical approach to this for which they ought to be ashamed?

Mr. Boyd-Carpenter

It may reassure the hon. and gallant Gentleman to compare the period for the year ending October, 1951, when the increase, calculated on the same basis, was 2s. 2d., or almost double.