§ 25. Mr. K. Robinsonasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will now discontinue the arrangements for insuring Government-owned commodities in the 184 insurance market, and revert to the prewar practice whereby the Government bore its own risk.
§ Mr. R. A. ButlerThe extent to which it may be necessary to renew these arrangements for a further period is now under consideration.
§ Mr. RobinsonWould the right hon. Gentleman not agree that the original arguments in favour of the present arrangements, which were a kind of National Assistance scheme for the private insurance industry in war-time, are no longer valid? Is he aware that some £10 million of taxpayers' money has filtered through in profits to the private insurance industry since this arrangement came into force?
§ Mr. ButlerThe hon. Gentleman has given a rather pointed illustration of the difficulties, and I realise that there is something in what he has said. All that I can do is to promise to study what he has said.