§ 2.35 p.m.
§ LORD CONESFORDMy Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.
§ [The Question was as follows:
§ To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the Bank of England loves bad design for its own sake or has offered some other explanation of the new pound note.]
§ THE MINISTER WITHOUT PORTFOLIO (THE EARL OF DUNDEE)My Lords, as I have no doubt that my noble friend Lord Conesford will wish to develop his thoughts on this matter for your Lordships' benefit by way of supplementary questions, I will begin by saying only that the Answer to both parts of his Question is in the negative.
§ LORD CONESFORDMy Lords, does my noble friend agree that this country can win a great and growing reputation for design and for quality? Is it not therefore deplorable that the Bank of England has set such a bad example, and how can we be certain that those who make such a mess of a bank note will show greater wisdom in other matters? Finally, in regard to the Answer which my noble friend has already given me, when he says that the Bank of England does not love bad design for its own sake, how does he know? Has he inquired?
§ THE EARL OF DUNDEEMy Lords, when I was last questioned on this subject, on December 8 last, I undertook, in response to the wishes of your Lordships, to ask the Bank of England whether it would specially design these new notes for the benefit of the blind.
§ LORD CONESFORDMy Lords, surely those who can see should also be considered.
A NOBLE LORD: My Lords, we are not all blind.
§ THE EARL OF DUNDEEMy Lords, I am afraid I always find that money slips through my fingers so quickly that I never have time to pause and admire its beauty.
§ SEVERAL NOBLE LORDS: Hear, hear!;
§ VISCOUNT ALEXANDER OF HILLSBOROUGHMy Lords, does not the noble Earl think that the common people of Britain, at any rate, are much more interested in whether a pound is still worth a pound?
§ THE EARL OF DUNDEEMy Lords, I saw a cartoon of the new £1 note the other day on which was written, "I promise to pay 11s. 3d."
§ LORD CONESFORDMy Lords, can my noble friend answer the last part of my first supplementary question: how does he know that the Answer to the first part of my Question on the Order Paper is in the negative? What steps did he take to find out?
§ THE EARL OF DUNDEEMy Lords, I tried to answer that by showing the steps I had taken to represent your Lordships' wishes that these notes should be designed for the benefit of people who could not see them.