HC Deb 26 November 1953 vol 521 cc505-6
22. Mr. Roy Jenkins

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he is satisfied with the degree of voluntary restraint which has recently been exercised in the declaration of company dividends.

Mr. Maudling

I am aware of individual increases recently declared, but I believe that, taking industrial companies as a whole, the importance of voluntary restraint continues to be recognised and observed.

Mr. Jenkins

Would not the hon. Gentleman agree that there has been an increase in the past year quite different from anything we have experienced for a long time? It is estimated to be as high as 10 per cent. on the average. Is it not obviously depleting savings the need for which his right hon. Friend is always telling us about, and will it not also have an unsettling effect upon wages, with, in turn, a bad effect upon export costs?

Mr. Maudling

The hon. Gentleman is entirely wrong in his facts. Taking dividend distributions as a percentage on capital employed, in the first 10 months of 1953 the rate of distribution was fractionally lower than 1952.

Mr. Jay

As the hon. Gentleman himself said that there had been individual increases, and as the Chancellor gave a warning on this subject only a few weeks ago, is the Minister simply going to stand idly by and watch his advice disregarded?

Mr. Maudling

It is most unwise to draw misleading generalisations from a few particular instances.

Mr. Nicholson

Has my hon. Friend's attention been drawn to the correspondence in "The Times" on take-over bids, which are a direct result of artificial restriction of dividends?

Mr. Maudling

That is an entirely different question.

Mr. Gaitskell

Is the hon. Gentleman aware that the "Financial Times" figures show that the increase of dividends paid this year is 8 per cent. above what it was last year?

Mr. Maudling

My figures were derived from "Financial Times" statistics.

Mr. Vane

Are not hon. Members of this House the last persons to press this matter, bearing in mind that they have had a 60 per cent. increase in emoluments since the war and are moving for a further increase?