§ Sir Brian Mawhinney:To ask the Prime Minister, pursuant to his oral answer of 3 February 1999, Official 185W Report, column 932, if he will list those factors which he has assessed as detrimental to economic stability if monetary policy were to be transferred from the independent Bank of England to Her Majesty's Treasury. [70102]
§ The Prime MinisterThe benefits of the Government's new monetary policy framework are clear: inflation has been at or close to its target; inflation expectations have fallen; the differential between yields on German and British long-term government debt has closed markedly; base rates are at their lowest level for over four years; and long term interest rates are at their lowest level for over 40 years and mortgage rates their lowest for over 30 years.
The UK's past experience of monetary policy, when short-term political considerations detracted from longterm stability, suggests that any move to take back control of interest rates from the Bank of England would risk jeopardising those achievements.