§ 53. Mr. YERBURGHasked the Prime Minister whether his attention has been drawn to the statement lately made to his constituents by the Secretary of State for the Colonies that, under existing circumstances of territory and responsibility, our position in the Mediterranean must remain one of national and international importance, we shall maintain it there, both on land and sea, to as full an extent as we have ever done in the past, and in doing so we depend on no alliance or understanding, actual or implied, but upon 1439 our own forces; and whether such statement is to be taken as expressing the settled policy of the Government?
§ The PRIME MINISTERThe hon. Member has omitted from his quotation my right hon. Friend's concluding words, "Subject to our own—and only our own— needs and to the tactical exigencies of our own unfettered policy and discretion." With this addition, the definition given by my right hon. Friend appears to me to represent accurately the policy of the Government.