Oral Answers to Questions — National Finance – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 30 June 1964.
Hon. Nicholas Ridley
, Cirencester and Tewkesbury
12:00,
30 June 1964
asked the Chancellor of the exchequer what estimate he has made of the percentage tax that would have to be imposed on all transactions in building land, to yield on average, £100 million in a full year.
Mr John Boyd-Carpenter
, Kingston upon Thames
I am afraid not, Sir, as the facts on which such an estimate would have to be founded are not available.
Hon. Nicholas Ridley
, Cirencester and Tewkesbury
If my right hon. Friend does not even know that, would he not agree that it makes it even more difficult to assess the effects of a Labour land commission? How could we possibly guess by how much the price of land would go up for a given yield from such a source?
Mr John Boyd-Carpenter
, Kingston upon Thames
I agree with my hon. Friend. While this makes it clear that it would be difficult to give a precise assessment of the project to which he refers, it makes it abundantly clear that it would be wholly disastrous.
Mr James Callaghan
Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer, Member, Labour Party National Executive Committee
Instead of applying his dialectical skill to destroying these propositions, would it not be more appropriate in a Minister of the Crown to devote his attention to methods of getting rid of what is regarded on all sides as a growing public scandal?
Mr John Boyd-Carpenter
, Kingston upon Thames
These propositions require no dialectical skill to destroy. They come to pieces on their own.
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.
Ministers make up the Government and almost all are members of the House of Lords or the House of Commons. There are three main types of Minister. Departmental Ministers are in charge of Government Departments. The Government is divided into different Departments which have responsibilities for different areas. For example the Treasury is in charge of Government spending. Departmental Ministers in the Cabinet are generally called 'Secretary of State' but some have special titles such as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Ministers of State and Junior Ministers assist the ministers in charge of the department. They normally have responsibility for a particular area within the department and are sometimes given a title that reflects this - for example Minister of Transport.
