asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what, based on the index of retail prices, is the current purchasing power of the £ sterling taking it as 100p on 4 May 1979.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer how the purchasing power of the £ sterling compares now with May 1979.

Taking the internal purchasing power of the pound as 100p in May 1979, its value in March 1980, the latest period for which information is available, was 85½p.