§ 5. Mr. Doddsasked the Minister of Labour if he is aware that in September the price of eggs, bacon, coal, coke, cheese, sugar, sausages, tinned meats, lettuces and runner beans rose, but that the decrease in the price of potatoes and cooking apples still resulted in a fall in the cost-of-living index figure by one point to 149; and whether he will reconstruct the cost-of-living index in order to take the increased prices more fully into account.
§ Mr. WatkinsonThe hon. Member's Question mentions September but it presumably relates to the fall of one point in the Retail Prices Index for August. In addition to substantial reductions in the prices of potatoes and cooking apples, there were also reductions in the prices of tomatoes, cabbage, other green vegetables and butter, and these reductions outweighed the price increases referred to by the hon. Member, causing the Index to fall one point. In September, on the other hand, the price increases reported outweighed the price decreases and the Index rose by one point. I am satisfied that the increased prices have been taken fully into account in computing the Index figures.
§ Mr. DoddsIn view of what lies ahead as the result of the disgraceful Budget, I apologise to the Minister for bothering him about a mere one-point difference in the cost of living.