VUNA AULA A SANAT
Unemployment could be helped by measures either to stimulato
textile activity or to create new jobs.
19 As to the first, the Government's reflationary measures
have so far done little for the textile industry.
The hire
purchase relaxations may even have hzad the effect of shifting
the relative attractiveness of consumer spending towardo
durables at textiles' expense. The possibilities of directly
stimulating textile demand might include:
B removal of purchase tax (currently 11 per cent) on howehold textiles (as in 1955), which would tend to benefit Lancashire especially, or on clothing, which would benefit the industry generally. Imports would benefit as well as home produced textiles. It might be difficult to justify favouring textiles only when other consumer industries are also in difficulty. It could be embarrassing to exempt textiles shortly before introducing Valve Added Tax whose incidence on textiles might well be higher than purchase tax lo now.
Placing. Government orders for textiles earlier than normal. This has been tried before with only marginal effect. To go further and apply "Buy British" prefer-
ence would run into international difficulties.
At
present we give preference only for computers an a high technology industry.
dach
of origin
Of largely optical significance, the retention this were possible under the new Act marking requirements for foreign shirts and othor garments.
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