§ 42. Mr. Giles Shawasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what effect he estimates the proposed increases in nationalised industries' prices will have on the retail prices index.
§ Mr. SpeakerThe Chancellor of the Exchequer.
§ Hon. Members: Where is he?
§ The Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons (Mr. Edward Short)I must apologise, Mr. Speaker, for the fact that for some reason or other my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer is not here.
§ Mr. HeathOn a point of order, Mr. Speaker. Would it not be in order for the Prime Minister, as First Lord of the Treasury, who is present, to answer the Question?
§ The Prime Minister (Mr. Harold Wilson)The Question is extremely important. I will discuss it with my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer and see that the House is given the best estimate available.
§ Sir David RentonWhile congratulating the First Lord of the Treasury upon 1120 his impromptu reply, may I ask him a very serious supplementary question? Can he tell us why we should go on putting up for ever with self-inflicted wounds arising from the fact that when the price of coal goes up, the price of electricity goes up, and that when the price of electricity goes up the price of coal goes up, and the nationalised industries go chasing each other's prices for ever upwards at the expense of the consumers and to the detriment of the economy?
§ The Prime MinisterI think that in putting that question the right hon. and learned Gentleman should have regard to the statement made in the House on 17th December last year—just a year ago—when the then Chancellor of the Exchequer said that the Treasury could no longer go on subsidising nationalised industries and that prices must relate to total costs.
My right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer dealt with this matter in his Budget Statement in March and said what he thought that would mean on the estimates then available. It has now become clear that it will cost more to carry out the intentions announced by the then right hon. Member for Altrincham and Sale, now Lord Barber of somewhere or other.
§ Mr. ShawI am grateful to the Prime Minister for answering so nobly the Question addressed to his colleague the Chancellor of the Exchequer. May I ask two brief supplementary questions? As nationalised industry prices are to be adjusted by subsidies being removed, why do the Government still believe that food subsidies as a policy for keeping prices down are so much better for that part of the economy?
§ The Prime MinisterBecause, as the hon. Gentleman will be aware, the effect on the cost of living of the average family in relation to so many millions of pounds subsidy, in relation to so many points on the cost of living, is more serious in the case of food.