Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 20 January 1964.
That is what I have been saying. The phrasing of the Resolution is such that this £550 million is not comprised of a limit of £5 million for the Commission and the larger sum for the new towns. That is wiped out. The £550 million can be divisible in any ratio as between the amount that will go to the Commission and the sum for the new town corporations. If this is so I think that my hon. Friends should be prepared to vote against the Resolution.
If my interpretation is correct, the whole thing is far too slick because it will not mean £550 million going for new town development. Part of it will go on that while a part will go for the acquisition by one authority from another of property which is already in existence. In other words, it will mean the transfer of property from the corporations to the Commission.
I raise this matter because we may face a bill to use money from the Consolidated Fund partly to finance new town development and partly to finance the transfer of that which has already been developed—and transferring it from the new town corporations to the Commission. I want this point to be answered. I hope that I am wrong. However, if I am right, then the people of Scotland are being cheated. If we are being fleeced we will fight tenaciously. I have given my interpretation of the Resolution and I hope that the Minister will explain what guarantee there is that large sums of this money cannot be used by the Commission to acquire existing property and how we in Scotland can be assured that adequate finance will be available for the expansion and creation of new towns.