§ 41. Mr. Dickensasked the Lord President of the Council if he will move to set up a Select Committee to consider matters relating to the Bank of England.
§ Mr. CrossmanI doubt whether the House would favour the setting up of a Select Committee to deal with such a matter.
§ Mr. DickensIf my right hon. Friend will not set up a Select Committee, will he at least consider two aspects of the accountability of the Bank to this House; namely, first, can we in future have the Bank's annual report and accounts published as a Command Paper in the usual way as for other public corporations, and, secondly, can we have an early debate on the Bank's most recent annual report and accounts in view of the fact that this House has not debated these documents for the past 20 years—that is, since the Bank was nationalised in 1946?
§ Mr. CrossmanTo answer the first part of my hon. Friend's supplementary question, yes, Sir, I will certainly consider 452 his suggestion. The answer to the second part is that I will certainly also reflect on that, but I do not think that I can promise such a debate for the immediate future.
§ Mr. Stratton MillsWould the right hon. Gentleman agree that on at least two occasions the independence and international integrity of the Bank of England has saved the Government from devaluation?