§ The Prime MinisterI have received, during the course of the morning, some suggestion that it would be agreeable to the House if I made a few remarks upon the foreign situation before we separat3—almost for ever—to-morrow. The House will, I know, realise what a blow to me it has been at this particular time to be deprived of the help of my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary. Not only does he play a most important part in our political affairs—and politics seem to have come to the front rather lately—but his great knowledge of the foreign situa- 1783 tion, and of all the tangled topics which run on in the files of that Department in this respect, has made his help invaluable. It was his main responsibility—
§ Mr. SpeakerThe House will forgive me for interrupting the right hon. Gentleman, but it seems to me that this is a statement that might well be the subject of Debate. We have the Consolidated Fund Bill coming on later, and it might be as well to have it on the Third Reading of that Bill. I make that suggestion, and leave it to hon. Members of the House.
§ The Prime MinisterI do not think that I shall be embarking on controversial topics, but if I do the knowledge of them will be before the House and discussion can be taken on the Consolidated Fund Bill, although my particular statement would not be actually a part of the proceedings on that Bill.
§ Mr. A. Bevanrose—
§ The Prime MinisterI do not wish to do it. I was asked to do it. I am perfectly ready not to make any statement.
§ The Prime MinisterI have not the slightest wish to make it.
§ Mr. BevanI think the House would be very anxious to hear any statement that the Prime Minister wished to make on foreign affairs. All I would ask is that the statement might be regularised. The Prime Minister can do a number of things, but I think what the Prime Minister cannot do is to get up and make a statement such as he is making now, without any Motion of any sort before the House.
§ The Prime MinisterI did not think it was a controversial matter to say it was a heavy blow to me that my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary was laid up. If it was I withdraw it.
§ Mr. BevanOn a point of Order. The Prime Minister can have all sorts of anxieties, and they may have public implications, but I know of no Standing Order that enables the Prime Minister to get up and inform us of what his anxieties are.
§ Earl WintertonOn a point of Order. Without taking any part in this controversy or discussion, may I point out that I understand that a very important state- 1784 ment is to be made by the Secretary of State for India on the subject of the proposals of His Majesty's Government for the future government of India, and may I, with great respect, suggest that there would be deep regret in India if that statement were not made and if we did not have an opportunity to discuss it? I do not know if this has any relevance to the present matter, but we have been promised that statement.
§ The Prime MinisterOn that point of Order. I was not aware that it was out of Order for Ministers to make statements on public matters—with your permission, Mr. Speaker, and, of course, the general indulgence of the House—but if that is not forthcoming I will readily withdraw.
§ Mr. SpeakerI think the suggestion which I made may have caused the trouble. [HON. Members: "No."] It is perfectly in Order for a Minister to make a statement, but I thought this was becoming a speech rather than a statement, and that is why I rose. Let me put one fact before the House which is of importance in connection with what the Noble Lord said. I understand that at about this time a statement is to be made by Lord Wavell in India, and the statement on the subject here would have to be made in 15 minutes from now, in order to synchronise with Lord Wavell's statement. Therefore I said it would be, perhaps, for the convenience of the House if the Prime Minister made his statement on the Consolidated Fund Bill.
§ Sir Percy HarrisI understood from the Leader of the Opposition that the Prime Minister was going to make a statement of an objective character, and we were asked if we had any objection, and I think it is only fair to the House to say that we stated that we had no objection.
§ The Prime MinisterIn order to keep clear of all controversy I will not enlarge on the controversial topic of my regret that the Foreign Secretary is laid up. I was going to say that at the end of war, when important victories have been won, Allies usually fall into discord, and I was also going to make the fairly unexceptionable remark that upon the whole a comman hatred is not a sufficient bond, after fighting has stopped, for the action of great Allies. I have clearly got through that anyhow.
1785 I am glad to report an improvement in the relations of the great Allies, even since the righting has stopped. So far as our relations with France are concerned, they have been greatly distressed and disturbed by events in Syria, on which I made a statement the other day. I should like to take the opportunity of saying once again, that the British have no ambitions or desires for aggrandisement in Syria. We have no idea of trying to supplant our French friends, in Syria. We have no wish to steal anybody's property in any portion of the globe. In this case there is the matter of the French influence in Syria, That we shall support, but only in counsel. It is not for us to secure the establishment of that influence any more than it is for us to pull it down. We are very glad if France can manage for herself in discussions with the Syrians and the Lebanese, so that a satisfactory treaty will be arrived at, and we have said that the moment that that treaty has been reached we will withdraw our troops from the country. Therefore, there cannot be any real basis of misunderstanding between us and France on this matter, and I am very glad to hear that M. Herriot is said to be coming over here, on behalf of General de Gaulle, and I am sure in the conversations which will ensue we shall be glad to convince our French friends of our completely disinterested attitude in regard to any action we have had to take in Syria, and of our good wishes to them in regard to maintaining their interests there.
Trouble threatened at the head of the Adriatic. Some misunderstanding arose between Marshal Tito as to the positions which his troops should occupy and those which the troops of General Alexander, commanding the Allied Forces in Italy, should occupy. We do not need to go into the details of that, but at one time it looked like an anxious and difficult issue, especially when troops are in close contact without agreement over a large extent of rugged country. I am glad to say that these matters have been settled diplomatically in such a way as may give full satisfaction to the views of the British and American Governments, and, at the same time, have left the whole question of the disposition of these territories open to the Peace Conference, when that occurs. Until then, each must bide where he stands at the present time.
1786 Our relations with Russia have undergone a marked improvement in the last week or so, because one difficult matter connected with Poland has already been settled. Invitations have been sent to Mr. Mikolajcyzk and other Poles in this country and to Mr. Sapieha and Mr. Witos and others in Poland who were nominated by the British or United States Governments. Invitations have been sent to them to proceed at once to Moscow, where the Conferences between the two Ambassadors and Mr. Molotov will be reinforced by Conferences in a larger circle in which the present Warsaw Polish Government will be assisted by representatives of the Poles from outside the country and others outside the scope of that Government.
§ Mr. A. BevanOn a point of Order. There has been established in this House for some time a provision by which Ministers of the Crown may make statements at the end of Questions of an urgent or emergency character, and it has been laid down by you, Mr. Speaker, that those statements may not be of too controversial a character, unless proper provision is made for them to be debated. In my respectful submission, there is no reason at all why the House should be burdened by the statement now being made by the PrimeMinister—[Hon. Members: "Oh."]—because everything the Prime Minister has been saying so far has been in the public Press for the last two or three days. In my respectful submission, this unusual exercise of. Parliamentary procedure ought not to be abused by allowing the Prime Minister to make general essays of a character which should be subject to discussion in the House of Commons.
§ Mr. SpeakerThe House has allowed the Prime Minister to make a statement and, therefore, he must be allowed to proceed. The difficulty is that if it is controversial Members may want to go into particular questions, and that is a difficulty which I foresaw, when I rose a few minutes ago.
§ The Prime MinisterI have been somewhat ill-treated in this matter. I received an intimation this morning—and only this morning and that is why I have prepared nothing—that it would be agreeable to the Leader of the Opposition and to Members opposite, that I should make a statement of this kind; and 1787 I have still some information to give to the House which the hon. Member has not read either in the decent Press of the country, or any other.
§ Mr. AttleeMay I say that for some time it had been intimated to the Prime Minister that it might be desirable, before the House broke up, that a statement should be made on the present position of foreign affairs, and as far as I know there has been no complaint whatever upon this side that the Prime Minister should be allowed to make a statement of this nature.
§ Earl WintertonOn a point of Order. While I do not wish to take part in this controversy, I do, with the greatest respect, wish to protect the interests of the House, and say that I hope that on future occasions it will not be laid down or held that, because the Leader of the Opposition and the Prime Minister come to an agreement that a statement should be made, such statement must be made without Debate. It may be justified in the present circumstances, but it is fundamentally opposed to the whole conception of the procedure of this House, which is that if a statement is made it can be debated. I say this without reference to the present matter and I ask for an answer.
§ Mr. AttleeThe Noble Lord is not correct. It was not suggested in any intimation that I gave that it should not be without debate, but that a statement should be made, and if the House desired to debate it, there would be an opportunity to debate it on the Consolidated Fund Bill.
§ The Prime MinisterOn the same point of Order. It has been usual for Ministers to be permitted after Questions to make statements which are not debatable. That is a procedure, which is perfectly well known, which the Father of the House has overlooked. But I have nearly finished my unwelcome task. I was only going to say that, in respect of the people who were invited to Russia, some of these difficulties had been overcome. But it must be remembered that they are only going to take part in a consultation, the object of which is to see whether the Warsaw Government can be extended or not, and we had rather hoped that that would have been settled three months ago.
1788 Our accord with the United States continues to be complete, and I have been very glad to hear from President Truman, and to read also his statements in the papers, that he is agreeable to a meeting of what are called file Three—no longer "the Big Three" apparently, but "the Three." Whether that is a compliment or not I cannot tell. Mr. Stalin has agreed, and the meeting will be held, I am not entitled to say where nor exactly when, but before the results of the impending Election here, including the receipt of the soldiers' votes from abroad, are announced. Therefore, I shall proceed to join the others at the place which has been agreed, but considering that our for tunes hang in the balance on both sides, that any one may claim the future, and the great importance which is attached to the voice of Britain being united, I have invited my right hon. Friend the Leader of the Opposition—my right hon. Friend for this purpose as well as for others; except purely Parliamentary purposes, I may certainly call him that—to come with the British Delegation in case anyone says, "Why are you committing yourself to something for which you have no authority, when in the ballot box there may be something which strips you of your authority?" There will be my right hon. Friend, and we have always in these last few years thought alike on the foreign situation and agreed together. Then there will be an opportunity for it to be shown that, although Governments may change and parties may quarrel, yet on some of the main essentials of foreign affairs we stand together. That is, I am sure, doing no disadvantage to the party opposite; on the contrary—
§ The Prime MinisterI hope that we shall be in a position, in a short time, to nip that project in the bud. I have no more to say. I will not intrude upon the House any longer, except to pay my acknowledgements to the hon. Gentleman opposite for the unfailing courtesy with which he has marked this long ten years' Parliament which is now departing, and, if I may finish my statement, I would like to say that I think we have every right to be proud of our record. For the first five years the Parliament strove for peace and it strove—
§ Mr. A. BevanOn a point of Order, Mr. Speaker. May I ask—
§ The Prime Ministerrose—
§ Mr. BevanI insist on a point of Order. I ask for your Ruling, Mr. Speaker. Under what precedent, what rule and what practice can the House of Commons be subjected to these general meanderings which have no relationship at all to any statement or any emergency?
§ Mr. SpeakerThe House clearly wants the Prime Minister to finish his statement; therefore, the right hon. Gentleman is entitled to continue.
§ The Prime MinisterAs I say, the first five years were mainly devoted to the tight for peace; the second five years have been devoted to the fight for victory, and it is in these second five years, when almost everything had been crashing in the world, that this House has, once again, manifested before all the world its power, Its authority and its practical methods of conducting business even in the most hazardous and difficult conditions.
§ Mr. BellengerAll that has emerged from the Prime Minister's remarks this afternoon is that my right hon. Friend the Leader of the Opposition has been invited to accompany the Prime Minister on one of his foreign travels. I understood that it was the purpose of this intervention of the Prime Minister to give the House some information on India. [Hon. Members: "No."] Therefore, may I ask the Government [Hon. Members: "No."] Mr. Speaker, I am entirely in your hands. The Prime Minister has made a statement and I understand that that statement is debatable. The Prime Minister has made only one important announcement—that the Leader of the Opposition is accompanying him. A far more important statement, we were led to believe by the Prime Minister when he rose, was to be made with regard to India.
§ Mr. SpeakerI would point out that I did say during the early part of the Prime Minister's statement that there was to be a statement on India in 15 minutes' time, as it had to be synchronised with a similar statement in India; this I said would be debated on the Consolidated Fund Bill.
§ Mr. BellengerI wish to point out, Mr. Speaker, that the Prime Minister was 1790 given the indulgence of the House in order to make a statement and they would never have given indulgence for a statement which was in the nature of an electioneering speech. Therefore, I think that the Prime Minister has abused the indulgence of the House this afternoon in making a statement such as he has made.