I WISH to respond to a letter from T J Lambourne, concerning his/her claims over the cost of living since Labour came to power in 1997.
Firstly T J Lambourne claims that diesel has doubled in price since 1997, quoting a price of £1.39 a litre, instead of today’s average price of 96p, and in fact since 1997 the price of petrol has risen just under 50 per cent, which is a slightly better position than under the previous Tory government.
The letter goes on to claim that bread and milk and other commodities have doubled in price since Labour came to power. I would advise T J Lambourne to read the price comparison report published by the retail giant Asda, whose economist compared the price of 26 everyday groceries. In 1997, these cost £29.39, dropping to £29.10 in 2007, and for those with a sweeter tooth it went on to say that a pack of its doughnuts was selling at 75p in the 1980s, but today, the same products was selling at 65p. While I would acknowledge that prices have increased over the last 12 months, the CPI is still low at 3.2 per cent especially when you compare this to the CPI figure of 8.5 per cent during the economic down turn in 1991, when the Tories were in power.
In conclusion it would seem that the only things really inflated are T J Lambourne’s claims!
(Coun) KEVIN SMALL
Jennings Street
Rodbourne Swindon
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