§ Mr. Piratinasked the President of the Board of Trade why, while the price of 72W men's clothing made to measure has been controlled at 110 per cent. above 1938 prices, the price of utility clothes has been allowed to increase by 200 or 300 per cent. over 1938 prices.
§ Mr. BelcherI cannot accept the figures given in the hon. Member's Question, particularly since utility clothes were only introduced during the war. No direct comparison with 1938 is, therefore, possible but the figures in the last White Paper on National Income (Cmd. 7371) showed that the increase in clothing prices generally, including, of course, non-utility clothing subject to Purchase Tax, was less than 100 per cent. between 1938 and 1947. There have been small increases since.