Text 27092, 69 rader
Skriven 2006-04-15 11:50:41 av Roy Witt (1:1/22)
  Kommentar till text 27003 av Frank Vest (1:124/6308.1)
Ärende: War debt
================
14 Apr 06 12:48, Frank Vest wrote to *.*:

 FV> A war is what it is and a debt is what it is ... and a war debt, sir,
 FV> is a humbug. Good day

Bullshit!

War debt, aka Lend-lease repayment:

Large quantities of goods were in Britain or in transit when Washington
suddenly and unexpectedly terminated Lend-Lease on September 2, 1945.
These were sold for about 10 cents on the dollar with payment to be
stretched out for 50 years at 2% interest. [Kindleberger p 415] According
to Hansard, the record of note for the debates that take place in the UK
the Houses of Parliament, the debate in the Commons on 28 February 2002
shows that the UK expected to complete its repayment of its monetary debt
to the USA on 31 December 2006, over 61 years from the conclusion of World
War II:

"Bob Spink: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what outstanding
liabilities there are to the United Kingdom of lend-lease loan facilities
arranged during the Second World War; [38441]."

"Ruth Kelly: The information is as follows.".

"Under the Agreement the loans would be repaid in 50 annual instalments
commencing in 1950. However the Agreement allowed deferral of annual
payments of both principal and interest if necessary because of prevailing
international exchange rate conditions and the level of the United
Kingdom's foreign currency and gold reserves. The United Kingdom has
deferred payments on six occasions. Repayment of the war loans to the
United States Government should therefore be completed on 31 December
2006, subject to the United Kingdom not choosing to exercise its option to
defer payment.

As at 31 March 2001 principal of $346,287,953 (œ243,573,154 at the
exchange rate on that day) was outstanding on the loans provided by the
United States Government in 1945. The Government intend to meet its
obligations under the 1945 Agreement by repaying the United States
Government in full the amounts lend [sic] in 1945. "

Similarly, Hansard records from a debate that took place in the House of
Lords on 8 July 2002 that:

"Lord Campbell of Croy: My Lords, is this payment part of the lend-lease
scheme under which the United States supplied munitions, vehicles and many
other requirements including food and other provisions that were needed
badly by us in the last part of the war?

Lord McIntosh of Haringey: My Lords, I referred to lend-lease in the
context of the generosity of the United States throughout that period.
However, the debt that we are talking about now is separate; it was
negotiated in December 1945.

Lord Stoddart of Swindon: My Lords, will the noble Lord remind me as to
exactly how much the loan was, and how much we have repaid since then in
principal and interest?

Lord McIntosh of Haringey: My Lords, the loan originally was œ1,075
million, of which œ244 million is outstanding. The basis of the loan is
that interest is paid at 2 per cent. Therefore, we are currently receiving
a greater return on our dollar assets than we are paying in interest to
pay off the loan. It is a very advantageous loan for us. "



Roy
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 * Origin: Hacienda de Rio de Guadalupe * South * Texas, USA * (1:1/22)