§ 69. Mr. WARDLAW-MILNEasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether the proposals regarding the suggested international bank, so far as British participation in it is concerned, will be submitted to this House before Great Britain is in any way committed to the scheme?
§ Mr. P. SNOWDENThe draft Statutes of the Bank for International Settlements provide that British participation in the shares of the Bank shall be guaranteed by the Bank of England. Accordingly, no action on the part of His Majesty's Government is involved. 334 On the other hand, the functions of the Bank in relation to German reparation form an integral part of the agreements for putting into force the Experts' Plan which have been concluded at The Hague and in regard to these generally the normal constitutional practice will be followed.
§ Mr. WARDLAW-MILNEIt was difficult to hear the right hon. Gentleman's reply. Am I to understand that, except in respect of the Bank of England, this country cannot be committed to any policy affecting our currency and credit, without the matter being brought before the House of Commons?
§ Mr. SNOWDENYes. I am not quite sure whether I heard accurately the concluding words of the hon. Member's question.
§ Mr. WARDLAW-MILNEMay we have the right hon. Gentleman's original answer read again?
§ Mr. SNOWDENCertainly. It was as follows:
The draft Statutes of the Bank for International Settlements provide that British participation in the shares of the bank shall be guaranteed by the Bank of England. Accordingly, no action on the part of His Majesty's Government is involved. On the other hand, the functions of the bank in relation to German reparation form an integral part of the agreements for putting into force the Experts' Plan which have been concluded at the Hague, and in regard to these generally, the normal constitutional practice will be followed.
§ Mr. WARDLAW-MILNEI will try to put my supplementary question again. Is it clear from the right hon. Gentleman's answer that there is no plan in connection with the proposed International Bank which can affect our currency and credit problems here, which will not be brought to the House of Commons before this country is committed?
§ Mr. SNOWDENAs I said in the answer, the Government are in no way involved except in so far as it is a party to the work of the Bank of International Settlements, in receiving and distributing German annuities. The other part of the Bank, what one might call the commercial part of the bank, is in the hands of the Bank of England, and the Government are not involved in that.