On the 20th November 2014 UK Parliament held a back bench debate on “Money Creation and Society”. This marked the first time in 170 years, since the Bank Charter Act in 1844, that the topic has been fully debated in Parliament. Thank you to all of your who contacted your mp and helped to make the debate a success.
Over 35 MPs attended and 21 MPs spoke throughout the debate. This included: Steve Baker MP, Michael Meacher MP, Peter Lilley MP, Austin Mitchell MP, Zac Goldsmith MP, Catherine McKinnell mp (shadow front bench) and Andrea Leadsom MP (from the government).
The debate is an important step. Members of Parliament at the debate acknowledged that banks create new money when they make a loan and there was a consensus amongst most MPs present that this is a problem.
The aim of this debate was not to take a vote or change laws, however, it provided an unprecedented opportunity to discuss this topic, which is outside of the government’s agenda. We were overwhelmed by the quality of the discussion and the cross-party nature of the debate.
Read more about the debate and watch the recording from the Parliament here.
If you don’t have much time, watch this 12 minute highlights video.
The government’s view on this debate was provided by Andrea Leadsom MP, the Economic Secretary to the Treasury. She raised seven ‘important questions’. We have written a detailed response and addressed them all – you can read it here.
Perhaps most importantly, cross-party support came for a proposal to set up a monetary commission in order to explore this issue in detail.
