§ 13. Sir G. Nabarroasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will now make a further statement concerning the introduction of a coin to be called a crown equal in value to 25p, and the phasing out of the old sixpence coin now 2½p.
§ Mr. HigginsI cannot at this stage add anything to the answer I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Hampstead (Mr. Geoffrey Finsberg) on 21st January about an intermediate denomination between the 10p and 50p coins. The 2½p coin will remain legal tender at least until February, 1973. A decision about its future will be made in the light of experience over the two year experimental period from D-Day.—[Vol. 829, c. 300.]
§ Mr. SkinnerOn a point of order, Mr. Speaker. I want the House to know that there are thousands of people outside, many of whom have been trampled on. The doors have been locked to many of my constituents and to the constituents of other hon. Members. I would like you, Sir, to draw the attention of the right hon. Gentleman the Leader of the House to this affair to see whether the situation can be remedied.
§ Sir G. NabarroWould my hon. Friend bear in mind that there is a good deal of public feeling that the gap is much too wide between the 10p piece and the 50p piece, especially as one tends to accumulate in one's pockets a large number of 10p pieces? Should not the Treasury endeavour to lighten that load in the interest of personal security?
§ Mr. HigginsI have referred to this matter in answer to my hon. Friend the Member for Hampstead. Although my hon. Friend feels that there is some case for this suggestion, it is none the less important that the public should have an opportunity of getting used to the existing denominations. I believe the time has not yet come when we can reasonably make a decision on this point, but I have noted what my hon. Friend said.
§ Mr. LiptonWill the hon. Gentleman ignore the terrible situation in the pockets 229 of the hon. Member for Worcestershire, South (Sir G. Nabarro)? We are not concerned with that. What we are mainly concerned with is the abolition of the halfpenny.
§ Mr. HigginsI thought I had already dealt with the hon. Gentleman's point, and I feel bound to say that the whole premise of his earlier point, which does not arise on this Question, is totally false. There are as many new halfpennies in circulation as new pennies, and next year we expect demand for new halfpennies to increase by more than 180 million.