Question to the Attorney General:

To ask the Attorney General, if he will make it his policy to disburse the monies held by the National Fund to good causes.

The National Fund was set up by a trust deed in 1928. It is a charitable trust. The Fund is held on trust for the purpose of reducing the National Debt. The trustee is required to accumulate the income of the fund, and not to pay out any funds until the value of the Fund is sufficient to discharge the National Debt; the value of the Fund will continue to grow until such time as it is equal in value to the National Debt. According to expert evidence, there is no realistic prospect of the Fund ever amounting to a sum sufficient to pay off the whole of the National Debt. The question then arises: what actions can be taken to release the funds from the trust?

The intentions and wishes of the person who originally set up the Fund, which were to discharge the National Debt, must be respected and borne closely in mind when considering this legally complicated issue.

I have been working closely with the trustee of the Fund and the Charity Commission to resolve this issue. I will be able to provide an update on actions I will be taking regarding the future of the Fund shortly.