§ Lieut.-Colonel Bromley-Davenportasked the Minister of Labour what is his present estimate of the annual expenditure of the public on beer, wines and spirits; and what weight is given to this expenditure in the cost-of-living index.
§ Mr. Iain MacleodIn 1955, the latest year for which annual figures are available, the estimated total expenditure on alcoholic drink, excluding expenditure by businesses, was £859 million, representing about 6.7 per cent. of the aggregate of all personal expenditure. The weight assigned to alcoholic drink in the Index of Retail Prices is 71 out of a total of 1,000 for all items, or 7.1 per cent.