§ 60. Mr. Butcherasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps he has taken since the introduction of the Emergency Powers (Defence) Bill, on 22nd May, 1940, to take greater control of the finance of the country and the banks?
§ Captain CrookshankMy right hon. Friend does not clearly follow what my hon. Friend has in mind in alluding to greater control of the finance of the country. The Emergency Powers (Defence) Order applies, of course, to financial institutions as it does to other undertakings by way of trade or business. No occasion for a formal invocation of those powers has arisen; the assistance required of the banks in various directions has been at all times readily given.