§ Mr. Lathamasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether, in the interests of assisting the Government's counter-inflation policies, he will take powers to disallow price increases in the nationalised industries in excess of the rate of inflation over the next six months; and whether he will make a statement on the reasons for his decision.
§ Mr. Brittan[pursuant to his reply, 21 July 1981]: Such powers would not tackle the root cause of these price increases. The best long-term means of keeping nationalised industry prices down—and the only means of doing so that does not place an unacceptable burden on the public purse—is to induce genuine improvements in the industries' efficiency. We are doing this through a range of measures: privatisation where appropriate, increased competition, use of the Monopolies and Mergers Commission and the setting of performance aims.