§ 51. Mr. Ellis Smithasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he is satisfied with the response made to his appeal for restraint in profits, wages, salaries, price reduction and control; what steps he intends to take to reduce prices; and when does he expect that his policy of restraint will satisfy the economic needs of the country.
§ Mr. JayAs my right hon. and learned Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer has said on a number of occasions, I regard the response to the policy set out in the White Paper on Personal Incomes, Costs and Prices as satisfactory. The Departments who administer price controls will continue to make such reductions as are practicable in the light of costs and margins. I am not clear precisely what my hon. Friend has in mind in the last part of his Question, but he will find a review of the economic situation which will no doubt show the need for continuance of restraint in the Economic Survey for 1949 which will be published before the Budget.
§ 52. Mr. Ellis Smithasked the Chancellor of, the Exchequer the percentage of national income taken in wages, salaries, profits, respectively, in 1939, 1947 and at the latest possible date.
§ Mr. JayFor 1939 and 1947, I would refer my hon. Friend to Table 253 of the Annual Abstract of Statistics, 1937–47. Comparable figures for 1948 are not yet available but will be contained in the next White Paper on National Income and Expenditure.