§ MR. SWIFT MACNEILLI beg to ask the First Lord of the Treasury whether he is aware that the Marquess of Linlithgow, who has been appointed Secretary for Scotland, is a director of two public companies, one of which is the Bank of Scotland; whether, having regard to the possibly conflicting interests of the Bank of Scotland and the Government, and the possible financial arrangements between that bank and the Government, the retention by the Marquess of Linlithgow of his directorship of the Bank of Scotland is compatible with the discharge of the duties to the public 329 incidental to his office of Secretary for Scotland; and whether he will take any, and, if so, what, steps to secure that in this case the duties of a Minister of the Crown to the country should not be in conflict with his duties as director of the Bank of Scotland.
§ MR. A. J. BALFOURLord Linlithgow is a director of the Rank of Scotland, as his two predecessors in office were and still are. There is nothing whatever in that position that conflicts with his duty as Secretary for Scotland, nor is any such conflict, in my opinion, possible.
§ MR. SWIFT MACNEILLIs a Cabinet Minister to be in one capacity representing the Government and in another capacity representing the Bank of Scotland? I must have an Answer to that Question.
§ MR. A. J. BALFOURThe hon. Member asks that Question under a misapprehension. The Bank of Scotland is in no sense an official or semi-official institution. It is only a private bank.