§ 7. Mr. Martenasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will make a further statement on Her Majesty's Government's policy with regard to further borrowing from central banks and Governments abroad.
§ Mr. Roy JenkinsI have nothing to add to the Answer which I gave the hon. Member for Louth (Sir C. Osborne) on 30th April.—[Vol. 763, c. 166.]
§ Mr. MartenDoes the Chancellor intend to fund any of the short-term debts 1015 which the present Government have incurred? If so, in the light of the Prime Minister's remarks about that on television in his devaluation broadcast, are the Government prepared to accept any strings if they are funding the short-term debts?
§ Mr. JenkinsI have no proposals in that direction to announce.
§ Sir C. OsborneIf it is against the public interest to tell the nation of the size of our short-term debts, would not it be more honest to our creditors and ourselves to fund those debts as quickly as possible?
§ Mr. JenkinsThis question was dealt with at some length yesterday, when I explained that the practice I was following was exactly the same as that followed by previous Chancellors.
§ Mr. Patrick JenkinThe Gas and Electricity Bill which has recently come before the House contains a novel power for the gas and electricity undertakings to borrow abroad. Where will these amounts figure in the figures produced for the House? Is not this a novel departure?
§ Mr. JenkinsIt may be a novel departure, but the hon. Gentleman must not necessarily assume that what is novel is bad.