§ Mr. Osborneasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer, since United Kingdom imports of world commodities have fallen by 14 per cent. in price since the autumn of 1956, what factors in the economy have prevented a fall in the cost-of-living index to an extent comparable with a corresponding fall in prices.
§ Mr. BarberThe fall in prices of imported commodities since 1956 has been more than offset, so far as the trend of t he index of retail prices is concerned, by higher domestic incomes, which have a much greater influence on unit costs than import prices.