HC Deb 12 February 1947 vol 433 cc61-2W
73. Mr. Osborne

asked the Minister of Food upon which Income Tax groups he based his calculation that the upper third of the community were eating less, the middle third were eating the same and the lower third were consuming far more than before the war; and how many were included in each group, respectively, both now and before the war.

Dr. Summerskill

The proportions referred to were not intended to be pre- cise statistically but merely to be broadly approximate. They were not based upon Income Tax groups and cannot in fact be related to these, primarily because the Income Tax statistics do not disclose the income per head of the population within the various income groups.