73.
asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer how he arrives at the calculation contained in the booklet "The Budget and Your Pocket," that the cost of defence is equal to an outlay of 22s. 6d. a week for every household in the country.
The figure of 22s. 6d. a week is reached by dividing the Defence Estimate for 1949–50, of £760 million, by 13 million, the estimated number of households in Britain.
Was the same method of calculation used in this case as the Minister of Defence used when he estimated that the cost was £15 per head?
I do not know. This is the simple average of the total expenditure over the number of households in the country. It does not, of course, mean that every household is paying that amount.
Will the Economic Secretary inform the Chancellor that if he keeps on his Budget line, a lot of people will have no need for pockets.