§ 52 Mr. Piratinasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) if he will now arrange for a list of all stockholders in the Bank of England to be published, stating the amount of each holding and 1869 the amount of Government stock which each such stockholder will receive on the proposed nationalisation of the Bank of England;
(2) whether the accounts of the Bank of England for the last 20 years, upon the basis of which it is proposed that compensation should be assessed on the nationalisation of the Bank of England, can now be published for consideration by this House;
(3) what proportion of the gross income of the Bank of England, in each of the last 20 years, was attributable to work done or service rendered by the Bank of England for or on behalf of His Majesty's Government.
§ Mr. DaltonWith the permission of the hon. Member I should prefer to deal with these Questions when I move the Second Reading of the Bank of England Bill.
§ Mr. PiratinDoes not the right hon. Gentleman think that the House should be presented with the facts I have asked for, and that the whole House would like to have them before the Bank of England Bill is read a Second time? I am sure that not only the whole House but the public generally would like to know who are the stockholders we are going to compensate so handsomely.
§ Mr. DaltonIt would cost a lot in printing, because there are more than 17,000 of them.
§ Mr. StokesCould my right hon. Friend say whether there are any nominee holders in the Bank of England, and will he ascertain whom these nominees represent?
§ Mr. DaltonNo. Sir. I think that is of no public interest whatever.