§ Mr. Arthur Lewisasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he is aware that, since Her Majesty's Government's announcement of a wages and prices standstill, the publication representing the grocery trade has published a list of 150 items which have risen in price; and what action he proposes to take to reduce these prices to their former level.
§ Mr. PeartThe list to which my hon. Friend refers contains both food and non-food items. The majority are in fact non-food. Although 150 lines are listed, they cover only a few commodities. For example, there are seven different fragrances of one pack of talcum powder and nine varying grades of steel wool.
The great majority of these price increases are due to the increase in Purchase Tax.