§ 51. Mr. Arthur Lewisasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer the numbers and particulars of all persons summoned by the Treasury for currency offences; and the amounts of fines and punishment in each case.
§ The Chancellor of the Exchequer (Mr. Dalton)Thirty-six people have been prosecuted this year for illegal foreign currency deals or similar offences. They were all convicted, and fines totalling £85,304 were imposed. In one case three months imprisonment was also imposed. Other cases are pending.
§ Mr. LewisCould the Chancellor tell the House how many of those charged were miners, engineers or bricklayers?
§ Mr. DaltonNot without rather complicated research, but my hon. Friend may make as good a guess as anybody else.
Lieut.-Colonel DowerCould the Chancellor give any hope of a lightening of these restrictions so that bona fide travel can be undertaken?
§ Mr. DaltonFor bona fide travellers, and for all bona fide Britishers who are not out to cheat their country, there are proper facilities now. I take the most severe view of all these law-breakers running away with our scarce foreign exchange resources at a time of great difficulty.
§ Mr. Martin LindsayDoes the right hon. Gentleman agree that this number of 36 represents only an infinitesimal fraction of the number of people who have been abroad?
§ Mr. DaltonThis represents prosecutions which have succeeded.
§ Mr. LindsayYes, I know.
§ Mr. DaltonOther cases are pending, as I have already said. I am sorry to say that this habit of cheating on foreign exchange abroad is pretty prevalent.
§ Mr. NicholsonCan the Chancellor say that every case which is prosecutable has been undertaken; and if, not, on what basis are the cases selected?
§ Mr. DaltonOn the evidence we have as to whether the prosecution will succeed. So far, we have not got around to catching the lot.