§ Q3. Mr. John Fraserasked the Prime Minister what is his practice in dealing with letters addressed to him on the subject of price increases.
§ The Prime MinisterA reply is sent, Sir.
§ Mr. FraserHas the Prime Minister in his reply been able to mention one 1032 single item in the housewife's basket which has acted directly to reduce prices, or is he now adopting the stance of last night and saying that the reduction of the increase in prices at a stroke will take years, not months?
§ The Prime MinisterAs the letters which I have sent seem to have been accepted, it has not been necessary for me to deal with that in reply.
§ Mr. BagierI appreciate the Prime Minister's difficulties up to a point, but could he invite his right hon. Friend the Minister of Agriculture to go shopping with his wife and try to justify in a practical sense the statement he made that prices had fallen? Would he not then ask his right hon. Friend to find out whether the word "competition" means in effect competition as to who puts prices up quickest?
§ The Prime MinisterAs the hon. Gentleman has heard my right hon. Friend dealing with this matter, perhaps he had better arrange it outside himself.
§ Mr. Roy JenkinsDid the Prime Minister in replying to these letters deal with the point at a stroke? If so, did he do so more convincingly than he did in his reply to my right hon. Friend the Leader of the Opposition?
§ The Prime MinisterThe right hon. Gentleman will have to do rather better than that if he is permanently to occupy the place of his right hon. Friend the Leader of the Opposition.
§ Mr. Roy JenkinsThat, of course, is the easiest possible reply for the Prime Minister to make. I saw his eye and his mind preparing it as soon as he saw that my right hon. Friend was not present. But would he none the less, as I asked him about this matter last week, answer the question rather than make a comment about it?
§ The Prime MinisterI am glad the right hon. Gentleman recognises that the easiest thing to say is how inadequate he is.
§ Mr. HordernIs it not strange that the right hon. Member for Birmingham, Stechford (Mr. Roy Jenkins) has the nerve to talk about inflation since he personally as Chancellor of the Exchequer was responsible for the largest increase in the 1033 money supply of any period in the three months before the election.
§ The Prime MinisterYes, sir. It takes quite a nerve.
§ Mr. Roy JenkinsBefore the right hon. Gentleman discusses money supply, perhaps he will answer the previous question I put to him because it is neither adequate nor appropriate for him three times to decline to answer a question. Will he now say what he meant on 16th June by the phrase "at a stroke"?
§ The Prime MinisterThe right hon. Gentleman has already raised this matter in debate and has had an answer. He knows the answer perfectly well.
§ Mr. ThorpeSince I am not deputising for my Leader, would the Prime Minister answer the interesting question how in his, no doubt, voluminous correspondence he explains the phrase "at a stroke"?
§ The Prime MinisterThose who write to me, if they raise this point—very few of the letters I have seen have done so—recognise that the control of, or at least the grip on, nationalised industry prices, which was part of what I was dealing with, is in hand with coal and Post Office charges. Where we find that a proposal put forward by a nationalised industry is not justified we shall not allow it.
§ Q4. Mr. William Hamiltonasked the Prime Minister what steps he has taken to improve co-ordination between those Government Departments concerned with price increases in the public sector; and what have been the results to date.
§ The Prime MinisterClose consultation, so that proposed major price increases in the public sector are allowed only when the case is proven.
§ Mr. HamiltonIs the right hon. Gentleman aware that the Government have had no significant influence on public sector prices since June, and will he explain exactly what his policy is on these matters? Is he to allow another coal price increase following the miner's pay claim? If not, how does he propose that the National Coal Board should finance its capital investment programme? Will he stop giving these boring, unimaginative homilies in the Guildhall and elsewhere and get off his backside and do something about prices?
§ The Prime MinisterWhere there are inflationary wage increases, then either this must be reflected in prices or there must be subsidies. The Government are not prepared to increase subsidies for the nationalised industries, and, therefore, the hon. Gentleman should urge those in the unions not to support inflationary wage increases.
§ Mr. Michael FootDoes not the Prime Minister agree that there have been some prices in the private sector, such as fuel and oil prices, which have increased faster than have prices in the public sector? Would he say who is responsible for co-ordinating action about these price increases, or whether this is another category under his own personal firm grip?
§ The Prime MinisterThe Question concerns price increases in the public sector.
§ Mr. Michael FootSince the right hon. Gentleman is not prepared to answer the question now, would he say whether he will answer it next week if it is put on the Order Paper as opposed to other questions that he has dodged throughout the whole of this exchange?
§ The Prime MinisterIn fairness to other right hon. and hon. Gentlemen in this House, I propose to confine myself to Questions on the Order Paper. If the hon. Gentleman puts down a Question, he will receive the usual courteous answer.