WORLD COST OF LIVING

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 71, Issue 36, 22 November 1950, Page 5

WORLD COST OF LIVING

PLAN FOR BULK PURCHASING (Rec. 8.30 a.m.) LONDON, Nov. 21. British labour degelates to the European Assembly in Strasbourg have proposed to the assembly a plan for combating the world-wide rise in the cost of living. - The delegates propose the establishment of a bulk purchasing board “which can cut out ruinous competition for essential food and . raw materials.” Their plan seeks to prevent the rise of world commodity prices, caused by rearmament, from forcing up retail prices paid in shops by housewives of every nation. It calls on the Committee of Ministers to joint action with the United States Government with a view to creating a Joint Resources and Purchasing Board which would have two tasks; firstly, to bring down prices and stabilise the commodity market by bulk and forward purchases, and secondly, to ensure that allocations are made to its members for stockpiling and current use and on a basis of fair shares and common strategy. The delegation leader, a Labour M.P. (Mr Maurice Edelman) told a press conference that the cost of living was such a serious problem that the Council of Europe should throw all its influence into the search for a solution.