§ Q24. Mr. Tebbitasked the Prime Minister if, in view of the fact that he told the hon. Member for Melton (Mr. Latham) on 17th May that inflation was declining and would continue to decline, he will publish the basis of his calculation in his answer to the hon. Member for Chingford on 23rd May that year-on-year rates of inflation for the last six months for which figures were available were, respectively, to November 1976 15 per cent., to December 1976 15.1 per cent., to January 1977 166 per cent., to February 1977 162 per cent., to March 1977 16.7 per cent. and to April 1977 17.5 per cent.
§ The Prime MinisterThese figures are increases in the retail price index over a 12-month period expressed as a percentage of the figure at the beginning of each of those periods. The hon. Member will have noted that in my reply on 17th May I referred to the fact that we were in a period of temporary "bump" because of the events last autumn.