§ Mr. Haleasked the Secretary of State for Air if he will state, in terms of the present value of money, the total sum spent in the most recent available 12 months' period, and in corresponding periods ended in 1955 and in 1948, on clothing for the Royal Air Force, the percentages spent on clothing of wholly British manufacture, and the percentage spent on items predominantly manufactured from cotton textiles.
§ Mr. Amery£5.6 million, £5.5 million and £3.8 million in the financial years 1947–48, 1954–55 and 1961–62, respectively. Apart from negligible local expenditure by overseas units all the clothing bought in 1954–55 and 1961–62 was wholly of British manufacture. Although the detailed records are no longer available, the indications are that the same was also true for 1947–48. 39 par cent. of total expenditure in 1954–55 and 31 per cent. in 1961–62 was on items predominantly manufactured from cotton textiles. A comparable figure far 1947–48 is not available.