§ 54. Mr. Gammansasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much money will be required to finance the nationalisation of those industries which the Government intends to take over; how he proposes to raise the money, and if, in particular, money raised through war savings campaigns will be used for this purpose.
§ The Chancellor of the Exchequer (Mr. Dalton)No new money will necessarily be required to finance any of these operations. None is required, for example, in the case of the Bank of England. As regards other cases, I must ask the hon. Member to wait and see.
§ Mr. GammansCannot the right hon. Gentleman give the House some idea of what amount of money will be required, or are the Government going to undertake this vast programme without having the faintest idea what it is going to cost?
§ Mr. DaltonIf the hon. Gentleman will look at the terms of the Bank of England Bill, he will see that no new money is required, but that one piece of paper will be exchanged for another. It may be that that precedent will be followed in other cases.
§ Mr. StokesWill the right hon. Gentleman call the attention of the right hon. Member for Aldershot (Mr. Lyttelton) to his answer?
§ Mr. GallacherWill the Chancellor see that as little money as possible is paid out in this direction?