§ 72. Mr. Osborneasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the internal purchasing power of the £ in terms of 20s. in 1945, each time the price of domestic coal has increased since nationalisation; how far inflation is due to higher prices; and how inflation can be ended if coal prices continue to rise.
§ Sir E. BoyleThe answer to the first part of the Question is that general increases in the pithead prices of domestic coal occurred in September, 1947, January, 1948, February, 1951, December, 1951, March, 1953, May, 1954, and July, 1955. At those dates the internal purchasing power of the £, in terms of 20s. in 1945, was 18s. 1d., 17s. 5d., 15s. 6d., 14s. 1d., 13s, 9d., 13s. 7d. and 12s. 11d., respectively.
On the second and third parts of the Question, inflation cannot be attributed to the increase in the price of any particular commodity and can be ended only by removing its root cause, which is the unbalance between our resources and the demands made upon them.