§ 4. Mr. Skinnerasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will now publish the Price Waterhouse report on the collapse of Johnson Matthey Bankers: and if he will make a statement.
§ The Economic Secretary to the Treasury (Mr. Ian Stewart)I refer the hon. Gentleman to the statement made by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor on 20 June.
§ Mr. SkinnerAre the Minister and his friend the Chancellor afraid to publish the truth?
§ Mr. Peter BruinvelsWhere was the hon. Gentleman?
§ Mr. SkinnerI was in Brecon and Radnor getting in Labour votes. [Interruption.]
§ Mr. SpeakerOrder. Let the hon. Gentleman ask his question.
§ Mr. SkinnerWill the Minister confirm that one of the biggest borrowers from Johnson Matthey Bankers is a friend of the Prime Minister and the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry? Will he also confirm that that man borrowed more than £15 million and employed the son of one of the directors of Johnson Matthey Bankers? Is that why the Government are not prepared to let people know what is in the Price Waterhouse report? Is it not a fact that, on a day when Lambeth is being covered and crawled over by accountants, there is one law for people prepared to carry out the mandate of the people, but no scrutiny from the Bank of England for a company which has lost £248 million? Is there not one law for the bankers and another for Labour councillors in Lambeth, Edinburgh and Liverpool?
§ Mr. StewartNo, Sir.
§ Mr. DickensWhy did my hon. Friend not refer the hon. Member for Bolsover (Mr. Skinner) to the Bank of England annual report now published and lodged in the Vote Office, documents Nos. 104 and 105, giving a blow-by-blow account of the rescue operation and an inter-round summary, the main thrust of which clearly shows that if the rescue operation had not taken place there would probably have been no danger to the United Kingdom bullion and gold market, but that, due to misunderstandings throughout the world, we might have been at risk? Why does my hon. Friend not give the hon. Gentleman the facts?
§ Mr. Stewartrose—
§ Mr. SpeakerOrder. Give the Minister a chance.
§ Mr. StewartI could indeed have referred the hon. Member for Bolsover (Mr. Skinner) to the information contained in that report, but as he asked such a concise question I was anxious to give him a concise reply.
§ Mr. SedgemoreIf the Select Committee on the Treasury and Civil Service decides to hold an inquiry into the collapse of Johnson Matthey Bankers, may we have an assurance that the Chancellor will appear at the inquiry and that the Price Waterhouse report will be made available, at least on a confidential basis?
§ Mr. StewartI cannot possibly answer questions about hypothetical decisions of the Select Committee on the Treasury and Civil Service.