– in the House of Commons at on 20 February 1940.
Sir Walter Liddall
, Lincoln
asked the Chancellor of the exchequer whether he will, in order to save exchange, tender as payment by the British Government for purchases of Brazilian raw materials, a suitable amount of Brazilian Government and municipal bonds valued, for the purpose, at the net prices received for them in cash by Brazil when issued on the London market?
Mr John Simon
, Spen Valley
No, Sir. I am afraid that there is no prospect of such an offer being accepted.
Sir Walter Liddall
, Lincoln
Will the Chancellor of the exchequer give his reasons for coming to that conclusion?
Mr John Simon
, Spen Valley
As I understand the hon. Member, his idea is to offer at net issue price, about par, bonds which are now in default and which stand at an extremely low level. I doubt whether that would be accepted.
The chancellor of the exchequer is the government's chief financial minister and as such is responsible for raising government revenue through taxation or borrowing and for controlling overall government spending.
The chancellor's plans for the economy are delivered to the House of Commons every year in the Budget speech.
The chancellor is the most senior figure at the Treasury, even though the prime minister holds an additional title of 'First Lord of the Treasury'. He normally resides at Number 11 Downing Street.
