asked the Chancellor of the exchequer whether he is satisfied that, in the present circum stances, it is in the national interest for the Government to pay to the banks commission on sums invested by their customers in Defence and Savings Bonds; and will he arrange for all sums so invested in the future to pass either through the banks free of such commission or through the post offices and the usual channels of the national savings movement?

I am satisfied that the commission paid to the banks is reasonable in the light of the work involved. The second part of the Question does not therefore arise.

In view of the fact that banks already make handsome profits out of their customers, does the right hon. Gentleman not consider that the commission paid, as far as the issue of Savings Bonds is concerned, is excessive, in view of the fact that the banks have very little work to do in connection with these bonds, the bulk of the work being done by the Bank of England and the Post Office Savings Bank?

Of course, this is a matter of opinion on which one forms one's own judgment, but I think we do in fact get full efficiency, and I should like to recognise the help that the banks and stockbrokers are giving in guiding money into these loans.