GOVERNOR OF THE BANK OF ENGLAND (Hansard, 20 July 1972)

§ Q6. Mr. Bruce-Gardyne
asked the Prime Minister if he will invite the Governor of the Bank of England to attend all future meetings between himself, the Confederation of British Industry and the Trades Union Congress.

§ The Prime Minister
No, Sir. My right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer and I value the Governor's advice on financial and monetary matters but it would not be appropriate to invite him to these meetings.

§ Mr. Bruce-Gardyne
I was afraid that that might be the answer. Is this not possibly a case of Hamlet without the Prince of Denmark? When the principal topic on the agenda is inflation, might there not be something to be said for the presence of a representative of the body which is currently engaged in printing extra money at the rate of 23 per cent. per annum to finance inflation?

§ The Prime Minister
My answer still applies—that it would not be appropriate for the Governor of the Bank of England to be there. The monetary supply, as my hon. Friend will recognise, has been affected by the events leading up to the float and since the float.

§ Mr. Jay
Since the Prime Minister said a moment ago that local authorities are responsible for council house rents, have we his authority to tell local authorities that in future they can set rents at whatever level they like?

§ The Prime Minister
That has absolutely nothing to do with Question No. 6. What the right hon. Gentleman must recognise is, as I said to the right hon. Gentleman the Leader of the Opposition, that the circumstances in each local authority vary. Therefore, I cannot give an overall estimate of the extent to which rents will be raised or of the rebates in each local authority. I cannot answer a 907 purely trick question from the Leader of the Opposition.

§ Mr. Grimond
Reverting to the original Question, would not the Prime Minister agree that the supply of money and credit is of great importance in any conversations he has? I appreciate his point that the Treasury representatives take this matter into account, but is it not reasonable to inquire why the Governor of the Bank of England is not also present since he is the person who is primarily involved?

§ The Prime Minister
It is reasonable to inquire why the Governor is not there, but in the discussions which we are having, the views of the Governor are taken into account by the Chancellor of the Exchequer and myself. It is unlikely that these discussions will go into a detailed discussion of the control of monetary supply. In so far as it is discussed, the Chancellor of the Exchequer and his advisers are capable of dealing with the matter.

§ Mr. Harold Wilson
I am happy that the Prime Minister has recovered from the last answer he gave on Question No. 4. Will he now answer this: whether or not the Governor is present at the talks, will the right hon. Gentleman recognise that in these important talks with the CBI and the TUC—and the whole House agrees on their importance—there is nothing he can do which would be more likely to lead to success in the talks than for him to get rid of the Housing Finance Bill, particularly as even he cannot say what will be its effect in terms of inflation?

§ The Prime Minister
First of all, I do not accept that it is inflationary, for the reason that if we help the lower-paid workers, which is what that legislation does, it will relieve the pressure of inflation. That is recognised by both the CBI and the TUC. The right hon. Gentleman is being extraordinarily reactionary in not recognising that fact. In the talks which are taking place, the TUC recognises the importance of the Bill in getting housing policy properly developed.

§ Mr. Wilson
Is the Prime Minister aware that it is not reactionary three times to ask him to give an estimate of the average, including allowances for lower-paid workers who get rebate? I 908 have had no reply to my question and that is not reactionary. I repeat the question. Taking into account rebates and unrebated increases will he say whether he expects an increase of more than 5 per cent.? If he does not answer, it is because he is trying to disguise his own reactionary policies?

§ The Prime Minister
If the right hon. Gentleman wants to know the extent to which those living in local authority houses and private houses will be affected by rebates or rent increases, I will gladly let him have the figures. But I do not agree that the average over the whole country can be worked out in the way he suggests.