§ Q6. Mr. Farrasked the Prime Minister if he will refrain from appointing a successor to the office of Paymaster-General.
§ Mr. FarrIn view of the recognised qualifications of discretion and anonymity required of the holder of this office, would the right hon. Gentleman say what consideration he has given to filling the 624 vacancy with the name of the right hon. Member for Belper (Mr. George Brown)?
§ The Prime MinisterI suppose that I shall see the funny side of that question if I think about it long enough I should not have said that the necessary qualifications for this post were anonymity and discretion, remembering that the last, or almost the last, holder of the office was the right hon. Member for Kingston-upon-Thames (Mr. Boyd-Carpenter), under the Conservatives
§ Mr. Boyd-CarpenterIs the right hon. Gentleman aware that the previous holder of the post was able to do one thing which no member of the present Government has been able to do, that is, restrain public expenditure?
§ The Prime MinisterI saw no evidence of that in the right hon. Gentleman's time. There was a prodigious increase in public expenditure in the last two or three years of the Conservative Party's term of office, before the election, and even more commitments for increased expenditure which we had to cut off when we came into office.