£ Sterling (Purchasing Power) (Hansard, 15 February 1972)

§ 16. Mr. Carter
asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the present value of the £ sterling compared to June. 1970.

§ 26. Mr. Skinner
asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the current real purchasing power of the sterling as compared with 18th June, 1970.

§ Mr. Higgins
I would refer the hon. Members to the answer my hon. Friend the Financial Secretary gave to similar Questions from the hon. Members for 231 Rugby (Mr. William Price), Newcastle-under-Lyme (Mr. Golding) and Manchester, Ardwick (Mr. Kaufman) on 25th January.—[Vol. 829; c. 1181.]

§ Mr. Carter
That was not a reply to my Question. But if the hon. Gentleman is so embarrassed about what would have been the answer, may I remind him that it would have been an admission on the part of the Government of a total failure to carry out their pledge at the General Election to cut inflation at a stroke? Is the hon. Gentleman aware, further, that the economic chaos that we see today is directly attributable to his Government's turn-about on that policy and, in particular, the introduction of measures which have fanned the flames of inflation?

§ Mr. Higgins
I think that it was a very clear answer and that, if the hon. Gentleman looks up the HANSARD reference, he will see that that is so. There has been a continuous month-by-month improvement in the retail price index since April, and the deceleration in the wholesale price index has been even faster. There has been a significant improvement—

§ Mr. Carter
What is it?

§ Mr. Higgins
The purchasing power of the £, taken as 100p in June, 1970, was 96½p in December, 1970, and 90½p in June, 1971. It has fallen only 2p in the last six months, compared with a fall of 6p in the preceding six months and 3½p in the corresponding period of 1970.

§ Mrs. Knight
Will my hon. Friend convey to his right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer the concern of the public in general and housewives in particular that an over-generous settlement with the miners will lead to a further increase in the cost of living?

§ Mr. Higgins
This is another of the points to which my right hon. Friend the Chief Secretary has just referred. If the hon. Member for Birmingham, Northfield (Mr. Carter) will refer to the HANSARD reference that I have given him, he will see the answer clearly set out there.

§ Mr. Lamond
In the absence of up-to-date figures as of today's date, would the 232 hon. Gentleman care to estimate the date on which the £ will have become the 10-shilling pound which the electors were led to believe would happen only under a Labour Government?

§ Mr. Higgins
I return to the point that I made to the hon. Member for Northfield. The fact is that it has not changed since the last answer to which I have referred. The answer which was then given by my hon. Friend the Financial Secretary was that, on the basis of the movement of the general index of retail prices, the purchasing power of the £ fell by 3.5 per cent. between mid-June, 1970, and mid-December, 1970, and by 6 per cent. between mid-December. 1970. and mid-June, 1971. In the three months since June, the retail price index has risen by about three-quarters of 1 per cent.