67. Mr. Watkinsasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement about the basic allowance of foreign currencies to be allowed to British tourists for the year commencing 1st May, 1950.
§ Mr. GaitskellYes. The amount of the basic allowance will remain the equivalent of £50 for adults and £35 for children under 15 years of age during the 12 months beginning 1st May, 1950. The additional allowance for motorists will remain at £10 per car.
I am glad to say that it has been found possible to add some countries to the list of countries in which this currency allowance may be used. The list will from 1st May comprise the following countries in which the allowance is already available: Austria, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, France, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey and Western Germany—and the following new countries—Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Cyrenaica, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Finland, Israel, Jordan, Paraguay, Persia, Peru, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, the Free Territory of Trieste, Tripolitania, Uruguay and Yugoslavia.
In the case of Switzerland total expenditure on tourist travel will be limited to about £5.7 million for the 12 months. There will be no limit to the number of 11W people who may spend their basic allowance on travel in Belgium and Luxembourg during May and June, but expenditure in those countries from 1st July, 1950, to 30th April, 1951, will be limited to £1¼ million. The detailed arrangements for travel to Switzerland, Belgium and Luxembourg will be announced shortly.
The House will be aware that as a result of the recent Uniscan agreement, Denmark, Norway and Sweden were put outside the scope of the basic travel arrangements as from 1st March, 1950. All reasonable amounts of currency are being granted for bona fide travel in these countries and such allowances will not affect the amount of the basic travel allowance available elsewhere.