§ Mr. N. MACLEANasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much gold was remitted to London during the War by the French Government under the Calais agreement: whether any of this is still held in London; and, if not, whether any or all of the non-interest-bearing debt of £53,500,000 of France to Great Britain has been repaid to Great Britain and, if so, when?
Mr. CHAMBERLAIN£53,500,000 in gold was remitted to London during the War by the French Government under the Calais agreement. Article 7 of the French War Debt Agreement of 12th July, 1926 (Cmd. 2692), provides that the sum of £53,500,000 shall remain as a non-interest-bearing debt of France to Great Britain, the repayment of which will be settled by a further agreement and that meanwhile the British Government will retain (without interest) against this debt the gold thus remitted to London by the French Government. In other words, the French Government if it wished to redeem this gold, would have to make further payments, outside the Debt annuities. There has been no change in the situation since the French War Debt Agreement was concluded, and no part of the non-interest-bearing debt has been repaid.