§ 16. Mr. Jesselasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he intends to introduce an autumn Budget.
§ Mr. Joel BarnettMy right hon. Friend will take such measures as our strategy and the situation demand.
§ Mr. JesselIf ever the Chancellor of the Exchequer has a chance to introduce another Budget, will he remember that high taxation tends to cause bankruptcies and so to increase unemployment?
§ Mr. BarnettThe Conservative Front Bench and the hon. Gentleman imply that somehow or other they will be able to reduce the present level of taxation. That is most dangerous nonsense and it does the greatest possible harm in the country.
§ Mr. Ioan EvansIn making preparations for the next Budget, will my right hon. Friend have in mind fiscal measures that will prevent the sort of activity of which we have had recent revelations in the cases of Lonrho, Slater Walker and other companies?
§ Mr. SkinnerAnd Jessel.
§ Mr. BarnettI assure my hon. Friend that we should take all necessary measures, and I am sure that he will not be disappointed with them. At the end of the day, the crucial thing we have to do is to recognise that the central objective is to improve our industrial performance, and that is what we intend to do.
§ Mr. MartenAs the preparation of any Budget in the next year or so will be inextricably bound up with the proposed borrowing from the International Monetary Fund, will the right hon. Gentleman clarify the reply which the Chancellor gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Conway (Mr. Roberts) just now? Did he say that $3.9 billion would be enough and that there was no need to borrow more?
§ Mr. BarnettI am sure that, unusually, the hon. Gentleman did not hear what my right hon. Friend said, since my right hon. Friend did not say what the hon. Gentleman implies he said. The hon. Gentleman could not have been listening.
§ Mr. MartenI was listening.
§ Mr. BarnettMy right hon. Friend said that whatever remains outstanding on 9th December of the $3.9 billion will be repaid on time.