HC Deb 08 December 1953 vol 521 cc1783-5
14. Mr. Lewis

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he will arrange to have the minutes of the inquiry into matters affecting the buying and selling of Savoy Hotel shares placed in the Library; what will be the cost of this inquiry; and whether the Savoy Hotel Limited will be called upon to meet any of this cost.

Mr. P. Thorneycroft

I do not propose to publish the minutes of the inquiry, but the Inspector's interim report has, of course, already been published. I cannot at present say what the cost of the inquiry will be. Under the Companies Act, 1948, the Board of Trade are required to pay the cost.

Mr. Lewis

Is the Minister not aware of the fact that this disgusting attitude on the part of certain financiers of getting rich quickly without paying any tax is frowned upon by every decent working man in this country, and is it not about time that the Board of Trade did something to prevent this manipulation of stocks and shares on the market?

Mr. Thorneycroft

Those allegations certainly do not arise out of this Question.

Mr. Jay

Are not all these manoeuvres very provocative to the majority of people who earn their living by wages and salaries, and cannot the right hon. Gentleman at least make a statement on behalf of the Government deploring this kind of activity?

Mr. Thorneycroft

If I were asked a Question on the subject I should endeavour to answer it, but it has nothing to do with the Question on the Paper.

16. Mr. Lewis

asked the President of the Board of Trade what approaches he has received from the directors, or any of the shareholders, of the Savoy Hotel for an investigation into matters affecting that company; and what action he has taken thereon.

Mr. P. Thorneycroft

On 10th November, the chairman of the Board of the Savoy Hotel Limited asked me to consider appointing an inspector under Section 172 of the Companies Act, 1948, to investigate the ownership of stock of the company which had recently been bought through nominees. The next day, I received, through the secretary of the company, an application under subsection (3) of that Section from over 200 stockholders; and accordingly, on 18th November, I appointed Mr. J. B. Lindon, Q.C., to investigate the ownership of the company's stock, with particular reference to stock purchased on or after 4th August, 1953. On the 28th November, the Inspector made an interim report. The report has been published and copies have been placed in the Library. I am now considering representations from a substantial stockholder that the Board of Trade should appoint an Inspector to investigate certain aspects of the company's affairs under Section 165 (b) of the Act.

Mr. Lewis

Whilst congratulating the managing director of this hotel upon trying to get some inquiry made into what is happening, not only in this instance but in many other instances, may I ask the President to reply to the supplementary question which I put on a previous Question? Does he not think it about time that the Government took action to prevent this manipulation of shares on the Stock Exchange and gave some support to the feelings of many thousands of workers that these big financiers should not make hundreds of thousands of pounds without paying tax on them? Could the right hon. Gentleman not do something to prevent this practice?

Mr. Thorneycroft

I am afraid that the hon. Member's supplementary question does not seem to arise any more on this Question than it did on the previous one.