§ Mr. Edgeasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what percentage of the aggregate increase in prices is explicable by reference to the increase in the rates of pay.
§ Mr. DellPrice increases over the last year have been mainly due, directly or indirectly, to increases in labour costs, as recent Price Commission reports have made clear. The proportion depends upon a number of other factors, such as the movement of import prices and the exchange rate, and it is not possible to be precise. The latest report of the Price Commission, published on 24th July, has a discussion of this point based on its own assumptions.