GOVERNOR OF THE BANK OF ENGLAND (Hansard, 9 December 1976)

§ Q2. Mr. Warren
asked the Prime Minister when he next plans to meet the Governor of the Bank of England.

§ Q3. Mr. Blaker
asked the Prime Minister when he next expects to meet the Governor of the Bank of England.

§ Q4. Mr. Wyn Roberts
asked the Prime Minister when he next plans to meet the Governor of the Bank of England.

§ Q8. Mr. Tebbit
asked the Prime Minister if he will meet the Governor of the Bank of England.

§ Q9. Mr. Michael Spicer
asked the Prime Minister when he next plans to meet the Governor of the Bank of England.

§ The Prime Minister
I have no immediate plans to do so.

§ Mr. Warren
Will the Prime Minister assure the House that before the Letter of Intent is given to the IMF he will consult the Governor of the Bank of England about it and will publish it in this House? Is that not particularly pertinent, bearing in mind that it was only 31 years ago this month that the Prime Minister nearly lost the Bank of England fringe benefit of the IMF for this country, when he voted against its establishment?

§ The Prime Minister
No. My recollection is better than the hon. Gentleman's history. What I, with a number of other hon. Members, including a number of Conservatives, voted against at that time were the conditions that were 621 exacted. Some of us are still in the House. I always thought that those conditions were quite wrong. I do not like to say "I told you so", but I think that it was wrong that the condition should have been exacted that we should return to the doctrine of convertibility of exchanges within two years at the end of the war. That was a basic reason why most of us voted the way we did, and those events are well within our recollection.
As to the earlier question, the Governor of the Bank of England will be consulted about these matters, the Cabinet having reached its conclusions. I think that the hon. Gentleman should put to my right hon. Friend the Chancellor his question about publication of the document. I am not sure what the form is, but obviously the House would be among the first to know.

§ Mr. Blaker
Is the Prime Minister aware that the Government are now in breach of Schedule 5 of the Industry Act 1975, which lays upon the Government the obligation to publish by 20th November forecasts of the national economy? Is this not another deplorable example of the Government's failure to tell the country the truth about the economy? Will the right hon. Gentleman ensure that this situation is rectified before the forthcoming economic package is revealed?

§ The Prime Minister
I am not aware of the date on which the forecast has to be published. That is a matter for the Chancellor. I am not a catch-all for questions to everyone else. I am most indulgent about some of the questions I am prepared to answer. Since, on the whole, they give me the opportunity to educate Conservative Members, I sometimes do not mind answering them.
I shall certainly look into the question of the date of publication of the forecast, and see that it is published. I agree that if we are to have a debate on the Government's measures the forecast should be published before them. I give that undertaking now. However, on the whole I am not sure how much light it will add. It seems to me that the clutch of forecasts such as we are getting now creates more confusion than enlightenment.

§ Mr. Atkinson
Will my right hon. Friend clear up the confusion that has been caused by the rumours circulating throughout the banking community and in the City that on two recent occasions he has given assurances to that community that there will be no nationalisation of the clearing banks by either this Government or the next Labour Government? Will he now clear up this matter and say whether he is looking at any alternatives to those contained in the document circulated by the Labour Party?

§ The Prime Minister
My hon. Friend should not be in any confusion about this. He was present when I read a statement to the National Executive Committee at Blackpool. He commented on it at the time, so he knows exactly what the position is—[interruption.] My relations with the National Executive Committee are nothing to do with the Opposition.

§ Mr. Tapsell
Tell us; tell the House of Commons.

§ The Prime Minister
As for the future of the City and the banking industry, the committee that is to be established under my right hon. Friend the Member for Huyton (Sir H. Wilson) will, I am sure investigate all these matters. A strong team is being assembled. If the hon. Member for Horncastle (Mr. Tapsell) is not careful, I shall not put his name forward for it.

§ Mr. Tebbit
As the Prime Minister has had some months to consider his application to the IMF for further loans, would he be able to tell the Governor of the Bank of England, even if he could not tell this House, whether it has been the unanimity of his Cabinet or the division within it that has prevented his getting the Letter of Credit prepared by 9th December—that is, today—when, as he has already said, he was due to pay back money which this Government had earlier borrowed?

§ The Prime Minister
There is no particular connection between the Letter of Intent for the IMF and the repayment of the credits that we have had. There is therefore no reason why the two should coincide. This is not a matter that I would discuss with the Governor of the Bank of England, but if I did I think I 623 should get more sense out of him than I should out of the hon. Gentleman.

§ Mr. Wrigglesworth
Does my right hon. Friend agree with the Select Committee Report on the Bank of England which was published yesterday, saying that charges for fringe benefits provided for staff of the Bank of England should be brought more into line with the levels charged to the general public?

§ The Prime Minister
This is a Report of a Select Committee of the House, and the Bank of England will want to take seriously what is said. I agree that some of the conditions that have no doubt been negotiated with the staff seem to be on the generous side, but the Government will have to prepare their view on the matter and publish a White Paper in due course. Before that happens I dare say that the Bank of England will want to consider what the Select Committee said.

§ Mr. David Steel
When the Prime Minister meets the Governor of the Bank of England, will he discuss with him the interesting observations of the Director General of NEDO the other day about the contribution to our economic failure that has been made by our party political structure, with what he described as its obsessive concern with short-term pressures and its destructive concepts of adversary politics."?

§ The Prime Minister
No. I shall not discuss that with the Governor of the Bank of England. I may discuss it with the Director General of NEDO, who, I think, seems to be straying a little beyond what is his proper concern at present.