M.P. Foretells Cash Crisis Next Spring

Editor's summary; MT quotes given in full: MT prediced that Britain was heading for a major financial crisis by next Spring, speaking to Ealing Conservative Ladies' Luncheon Club, Thursday week.

“The building industry and capital investment are running down—slowly, but gathering speed,” she told 100 members and guests at the Park Hotel, Hanwell.

“There will be unemployment difficulties in October and more economic difficulties in January and February.

“I believe that, after Christmas, we shall have a very, very serious financial and economic state of affairs.”

But, MT told the women, it took a long time “even for an incompetent government” to make the country bankrupt.

Mistrust

Across the world, MT claimed, there was mistrust of Britain where there used to be trust.

After the 15 per cent import surcharge imposed by Labour, a new expression had been coined in Zurich, ‘Britannia waives the rules.’

MT said the Tories were going through every clause of the Finance Bill “to amend and correct its many errors.” There were also 200 Government amendments to the Bill and 60 to the Rent Bill.

“We (the Opposition) are having to correct elementary mistakes that ought never to have been made.”

The Conservatives had reduced the standard rate of income tax from 9s 6d to 7s 9d during their 1951-64 government and reduced purchase tax from 100 per cent to 30 per cent.

“Labour is discouraging the people who lay the golden eggs, discouraging the people with ability. It is the middle-income groups who suffer under Labour and the people who have never contributed a lot to society are now getting most out of it.”

Conservatives must direct their policy to the conditions of the 1960s, she said. It must be recognized that most people earn good wages and should be able to provide for the present and the future.

“It is only the victims of misfortune that one should help. We should not encourage those whose need arises because they are spendthrifts and have put nothing aside for the future.”