§ Q6. Mr. Peter Walkerasked the Prime Minister whether the public speech made by the First Secretary of State and Secretary of State for Economic Affairs at Church Gresley on 26th January about house mortgages represents Government policy.
§ The Prime MinisterYes, Sir, very much so.
§ Mr. WalkerIs the Prime Minister aware that the First Secretary of State said that the Government would proceed with their mortgage proposals when the economic situation eased? As, in the five weeks since then, we have had the worst trade figures since August, sterling 1487 has fallen to its lowest level since September and we have heard today that, during the last 12 months, wages have risen nine times as fast as productivity, which of these three features does the right hon. Gentleman describe as easing?
§ The Prime MinisterIf the hon. Gentleman wants to rehearse his election speech I will reply to it. It was not only my right hon. Friend who said this. I said it in this House as well four or five weeks ago. I stated that I thought that the economic position had improved sufficiently for a statement to be made. The hon. Gentleman has quoted one month's trade figures, but his right hon. Friend the Leader of the Opposition told us, when he was President of the Board of Trade, that we cannot consider them singly. Indeed, the figures for January were far less bad than the figures for January, 1964—when the right hon. Member for Kinross and West Perthshire (Sir Alec Douglas-Home) was provoked into saying that the economy had never been stronger.
§ Mr. SpeakerOrder. Answers are getting too long.
§ The Prime MinisterOn a point of order, Mr. Speaker. I had five supplementary questions put to me. Would I not be in order in replying to just one more? That reply is that the trade figures for the last three months show a gap only one-third as large as in the last three months of the Tory Government.