§ 24. Mr. Bruce-Gardyneasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether, 22 following the annual general meeting of the International Monetary Fund in Washington, he expects that international agreement on a contingency plan for supplementing existing sources of international liquidity will be reached in time for endorsement at next year's International Monetary Fund meeting.
§ Mr. CallaghanI shall certainly work to achieve this objective, but I cannot yet say what are the prospects of success.
§ Mr. Bruce-GardyneWould the right hon. Gentleman agree that the chances of success are, in fact, exceedingly remote? In those circumstances, would he not agree that even a "caveman" solution such as that suggested by the President of the Board of Trade—of a rise in the gold price—would be better than no solution at all?
§ Mr. CallaghanThe hon. Gentleman may be a soothsayer, but I do not intend to be. I want to try to work this year to get agreement on a contingency plan, and I hope that I shall have support from hon. Gentlemen opposite in doing that.