HC Deb 19 February 1953 vol 511 cc1436-7
34. Mr. Osborne

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer the maximum figure, under his Regulations, which the banks and financial institutions are permitted to loan for the purchase of securities without obtaining Treasury consent.

Mr. Maudling

I would refer my hon. Friend to the detailed provisions of the Control of Borrowing Order, 1947.

Mr. Osborne

I must confess that I have not got that Order. Will the Minister not give an answer that the whole House will understand? Can we not have it now?

Mr. Maudling

My hon. Friend asked for a figure. The difficulty is that the figure varies according to the circumstances, and any attempt, in answer to a Question, to summarise this detailed and complicated Order might tend to be misleading. I shall, however, be very glad to furnish my hon. Friend with a copy.

Mr. Osborne

Has there been any easing of the restriction on loans for this purpose since the present Government came to power?

Mr. Maudling

There has been no alteration in the Control of Borrowing Order, 1947, which still remains valid.

Mr. Gaitskell

Would the hon. Gentleman not agree that the request of the Chancellor of the Exchequer to the banks in relation to the granting of credit covered this point? Will he not at least give some indication of the Government's attitude to this practice and the form that it has taken recently?

Mr. Maudling

The statement by my right hon. Friend, to which the right hon. Gentleman has referred, dealt with the point. The Control of Borrowing Order is the governing statutory instrument, and as far as I know it has not been amended.