§ Mr. Newtonasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer further to his reply to the hon. Member for Braintree in the Written Answer of 3rd November 1976, Official Report, columns 590–2, whether there was any occasion prior to 24th April 1976 on which he publicly warned the nation that a general fall in living standards was inevitable.
§ Mr. HealeyI have always been reluctant to claim that any development was "inevitable". As early as 20th January 1975 I gave a clear warning that living standards could fall in certain circumstances, when I said in a "Panorama" programme
The last time we analysed this in great detail we thought we could increase output by the end of the year about 2 per cent. over what it was last year. In that case we may be able to maintain living standards but if we fail to do that (and this can depend as much on foreign demand for our products as on anything we do at home) that could mean a fall in living standards.We did not, and there was.