§ 21. Mr. Boyd-Carpenterasked the Minister of Works the amount spent by the Government Hospitality Fund during the first six months of this year; the number of parties in respect of which expenditure from the fund was involved; and the figures for the corresponding periods of 1945 and 1946.
§ Mr. KeyThe amount spent by the Government Hospitality Fund during the first six months of this year was £32,266 4s. 11d.; the number of functions was 155; figures for the corresponding periods of 1945 and 1946 are, respectively, £10,345 12S. 7d. for 87 functions, and £23,029 19s. for 160 functions
§ Mr. Boyd-CarpenterCan the right hon. Gentleman tell the House the justification in these days for this steady and progressive increase in public entertaining at the public expense?
§ Mr. KeyYes, Sir. One of the great things which we have to do is to get the necessary contacts with countries and people abroad, so that we may have a due appreciation of each other's problems. It is, I think, a very important thing in international contacts that this entertaining should go on. I might add that the chief items in the 1947 expenses have been the Parliamentary delegations invited to London by the Lord Chancellor and Mr. Speaker.
§ Earl WintertonWill the right hon. Gentleman say whether we are to understand that the only way in which the Government can get contact with foreigners is by giving them food and drink?
§ Mr. KeyArrangements for due hospitality have to be made, and for their living accommodation and entertainment while in this country. We cannot expect them to come here and to live on the streets in poverty.
§ Mr. DumpletonCan my right hon. Friend say what were the prewar figures?
§ Mr. KeyI have given the comparison for which I was asked. I was asked only for the 1945 and 1946 amounts, probably for obvious reasons.
§ Sir W. SmithersWill the Government, in view of the food crisis, stop entertaining their friends at the taxpayers' expense; and are these banquets subject to the regulations of the Ministry of Food?
§ Mr. KeyI think I can say quite definitely that the people who are entertained here are not the friends, in the sense which the hon. Gentleman uses the words, of Members of His Majesty's Government. 966 They are the guests of the Government of this country, and, as such, should be adequately and properly entertained.
§ Mr. ScollanWill the Minister tell the House how these figures compare with the money spent in this country entertaining Ribbentrop and his guests, who were here before the war?
§ Sir W. SmithersWill the right hon. Gentleman answer my question whether these banquets are in accordance with the regulations of the Ministry of Food?