Oral Answers to Questions — National Finance – in the House of Commons am 12:00 am ar 4 Tachwedd 1947.
Lieut-Colonel Sir Thomas Moore
, Ayr District of Burghs
12:00,
4 Tachwedd 1947
asked the Chancellor of the exchequer what saving in dollars does he anticipate will be effected by his action in regard to the import of American films.
Mr Hugh Dalton
, Bishop Auckland
Dollar remittances for films have been running at about £17 million a year. The Duty aims at cutting this by 75 per cent., but the full saving will not accrue at once.
Sir Waldron Smithers
, Orpington
asked the Chancellor of the exchequer, in view of the fact that internal revenues equal to £83,000,000 annually are received in Britain from the showing of American films, if he will give an estimate of the effect on revenue if the American film industry sends no more films to Britain.
Mr Hugh Dalton
, Bishop Auckland
I do not know how the hon. Member arrives at the figure of £83 million, and I cannot forecast the effect of the cut in American films on attendance at British cinemas.
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.
