No-deal Brexit: Short Positions against the Pound Debate

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Department: HM Treasury

No-deal Brexit: Short Positions against the Pound

Lord Austin of Dudley Excerpts
Monday 30th September 2019

(4 years, 7 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Simon Clarke Portrait Mr Clarke
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The Government do not comment on meetings with individuals, and the hon. Gentleman would not expect me to do so now.

Lord Austin of Dudley Portrait Ian Austin (Dudley North) (Ind)
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Is not the shadow Chancellor peddling conspiracy theories about shadowy figures working with the Government to manipulate the economy for personal gain because he is a self-proclaimed Marxist who wants to undermine trust and confidence in how our economy and our country work? [Interruption.] It is no laughing matter, as that is what he is trying to do. There have, in fact, already been two investigations into these wild claims. One, as we heard earlier, by the Financial Times that said this is

“firmly in the realm of conspiracy theories.”

The second investigation was by the independent fact-checking organisation Full Fact, which demolished this crazed nonsense in an article headlined, “We think there’s a big error in that viral article about hedge funds and Brexit”.

Simon Clarke Portrait Mr Clarke
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Would that all parts of our country were as well served as Dudley is by the hon. Gentleman, who is absolutely right: it is genuinely dispiriting that in the mother of Parliaments we find ourselves debating material that is more fit for the tinfoil hat brigade than for Parliament at a crucial time in our country’s history.