§ 56. Sir F. WISEasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer the amount that Britain and France, respectively, have to pay in interest on the Ottoman Guarantee Loan of 1855?
§ Mr. CHURCHILLThe interest on the Ottoman Guaranteed Loan of 1855 amounts to £153,712 a year. The interest is guaranteed jointly and severally by the British and French Governments. If the Egyptian Government were to continue to default on the payments hitherto made by it towards the interest on the loan, and if the resulting deficit were shared equally between the British and French Governments (as would naturally be the case), each Government would be called upon to pay approximately £30,500 a year during the continuance of the default.
§ Sir F. WISEIs the annual amount received from the Cyprus Government, £92,800, included in that amount?
§ Mr. CHURCHILLYes, I think that it is.
§ Sir F. WISEDo I understand that the French participate in the amount which we receive from the Cyprus Government'?
§ Mr. CHURCHILLThe:hon. Member must not involve me in a tangle of a complicated character as to the proportion of the share which would probably fall due as between France and England—[Horn. MEMBERS: "Britain I"]—France and Great Britain. I would like to be guided by the advice of my experts.