§ 48. Mr. Emrys Hughesasked the Prime Minister, in view of the fact that Her Majesty's Government are pledged to double the standard of life in twenty-five years, what legislation he proposes to introduce for raising the standard of life in Britain in 1958.
§ The Prime MinisterDoubling the standard of living is not a matter for legislation; it is a question of hard work, and of exercising responsibility and restraint now for the sake of the future; and the progress in the last few years gives every ground for confidence that this objective is well within our power.
§ Mr. HughesIs the Prime Minister aware that this idea was returned to by the Lord Privy Seal in the manuscript amendment to the speech he did not deliver to the students at Glasgow? As the Prime Minister will be ninety in twenty-five years' time, does not he think that this process should be speeded up?
§ The Prime MinisterMy right hon. Friend's observations, whether delivered or prepared in Glasgow, were, I understand, based on a study called "Britain and Europe" by The Economist Intelligence Unit.
§ Mr. GaitskellWould not the Prime Minister agree that the doubling of the standard of living in twenty-five years is possible only on the basis of economic expansion? When will the Government resume an expansionist policy instead of the present restrictive policy?
§ The Prime MinisterIt is, of course, based upon a policy which acts prudently and patiently in certain circumstances and prevents the complete collapse of the system into absolute despair and destruction.