[Don't worry about price rises-it's all just a…]

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Don't worry about price rises-it's all just a public relations failure.

The Daily Telegraph gave some prominence to a meeting last week between Angus Maude, Tory minister "responsible for information" and Tory Central Office officials, in which the officials deplored Maude's failure to pin the blame for price rises on the late Labour It was one of those reports where no one is quoted and sources are not revealed, but which presents a detailed account of what went on dressed up in phrases like it appears that ..." and 'there is disquiet in government circies that...

The Telegraph correspondent says:

"The view is that this failure entitled the public to (believe) price increases were just as much the work of Mrs Thatcher's government as the axing of the Commission.

"It is also accepted that it will be an extrmely difficult task to convince the public otherwise, especially through the popular press"

There is nothing new in arranging for the press to present policy in a "corect" light and Tory officials will no doubt find a way around the problem.

Problems

Problems Maude certainly has:

"Party officials told him that the abolition of the Price Commission followed by the announcement of a range of price rises, including those for gas, electricity and petrol had provoked an adverse public reaction and called Conservative policy on inflation into The way this will be done was also made clear in that kind of cloudy way that the Telegraph has:

"It is felt that Ministers themselves should spell out the political case for a policy, when possible in advance of the factual Departmental announcement"'.

Or to put it more plainly, information will only be released by the department (on

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