§ Mr. Gallacherasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he has considered the letter from the Lewisham branch of the Electrical Trades Union, sent to him by the hon. Member for West Fife, regarding Income Tax and wages; and whether he has any statement to make on the matter?
§ Sir K. WoodYes, Sir. The correspondence shows that the branch in question wish to know why the goods which can now be supplied for sale to the public are limited in amount. The answer is that the need to devote so much of our man-power to manning and equipping the Defence Services and to spare all available ships to carry food and essential war materials means that much smaller quantities of goods can be made or imported for civilian use than in peace-time. Shortages in the supplies of such goods are therefore a direct and unavoidable result of the war effort.