§ 14. Mr. Peter Walkerasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he has now decided whether to publish details of Government borrowing from overseas sources.
§ Mr. CallaghanNot yet, Sir.
§ Mr. WalkerCan the right hon. Gentleman explain why it is taking so long to decide whether or not to carry on the practice of my right hon. Friend the Member for Barnet (Mr. Maudling) and virtually advocated by the present Prime Minister? Is there some doubt in the right hon. Gentleman's mind whether the Prime Minister is right on this subject?
§ Mr. CallaghanI hope that there will be no doubt on either side of the House about the necessity of preserving the integrity of sterling. I hope that hon. and right hon. Members opposite will keep this in mind in their public and private utterances.
§ Sir Ian Orr-EwingThe Chancellor can rest assured that we on this side of the House are anxious to see the integrity of sterling preserved. If the right hon. Gentleman wants to launch an all-party appeal, will he on his side drop some of the Government's proposals, such as the nationalisation of iron and steel, which can do nothing for our economy and can only harm us in the eyes of people overseas?
§ Mr. CallaghanThat is exactly the sort of statement that is registered overseas and does a good deal of damage.
§ Mr. MaudlingIf the right hon. Gentleman says, as he rightly does, that certain information should not be made available, why do the right hon. Gentleman and his colleagues continue to blame us for not making that information public in the past?
§ Mr. CallaghanI see where the right hon. Gentleman is getting to, but in view of his comments last week when I was in Paris I should have thought that a period of silence from him was called for.