§ 4. Mr. Dixonasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what has been the increase in the standard of living on the basis of real disposable income per head between the fourth quarter of 1964 and the second quarter of 1970, and between the second quarter of 1970 and the latest available quarter.
§ Mr. BarberBetween the fourth quarter of 1964 and the second quarter of 1970 the standard of living on the basis of real personal disposable income per head rose by 8 per cent. or at an average annual rate of l½ per cent. Between the second quarter of 1970 and the second quarter of 1972 the standard of living on the same basis rose by 10 per cent. or at an average annual rate of 5 per cent.
§ Mr. DixonIs it not remarkable that in two years of Conservative Government the standard of living has increased more rapidly than in the whole 5½ years of Labour Government, and that the rate of increase on an annual basis is over three times as fast under the Conservative Government as it was under the Labour Government?
§ Mr. BarberMy hon. Friend is quite right. This is a tribute to the policies we have been pursuing.
§ Mr. SheldonWhen congratulating himself on a performance in which we have had the highest rate of inflation in peacetime this century, will the right hon. Gentleman also tell us the difference between the balance of payments inherited by the Conservative Government and that which the Labour Government inherited?
§ Mr. BarberWhat I can tell the hon. Gentleman is that despite the problems we faced last June, when it was decided to float the £ temporarily, at the present time our reserves are twice as high as they were when we took over from the last Government. Since we have been in office we have repaid the whole of the short and medium-term official debt which we inherited.
§ Mr. MartenMay I congratulate my right hon. Friend on achieving a 5 per cent. growth rate and a 5 per cent. increase in the standard of living without going into the Common Market?
§ Mr. BarberI take the point but, of course, one of the objects of joining the EEC is that we shall do even better.
§ Mr. HoosonDoes not the right hon. Gentleman agree that there is a danger that giving these average figures masks the fact that a considerable number of our people are still living below the poverty line and that this is one of the dangers of this kind of question and answer? Whereas many of the stronger people in our economic society have increased their real earnings, a substantial proportion of the community still suffers from very low earnings.
§ Mr. BarberThe position is that the proportion of people living on very low earnings is, I believe, decreasing, and in particular, if one goes beyond earnings and looks at the index generally, one sees that certainly one section of the community during the past two years has been doing very much better than during the previous five years in real terms—and that is the pensioners.