§ Sir Michael SpicerTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if the commitments he has made with respect to the withholding tax will apply to all forms of savings in addition to eurobonds. [89567]
§ Dawn PrimaroloWe have made it very clear that the draft Directive on savings in its current form is unacceptable because of its likely impact on our financial markets. The Conclusions of the ECOFIN Council meeting on 1 December 1997 record that the United Kingdom considers the Directive should not apply to eurobonds and other similar instruments.