HC Deb 18 March 1919 vol 113 cc1897-8
52. Major O'NEILL

asked the Prime Minister whether the Government are taking any and, if so, what steps to set up a permanent Imperial Council to deal with matters concerning the Empire as a whole; and, if not, will he say what is being done to ensure that in future the Dominions shall have a larger participation than heretofore in the government of the Empire?

The UNDER-SECRETARY Of STATE for the COLONIES (Lieutenant-Colonel Amery)

I would remind my hon. and gallant Friend that any permanent scheme for securing to the Dominions a larger participation in the government of the Empire must be the outcome of common agreement between the various Governments concerned and cannot be set up simply on the initiative of His Majesty's Government. In this connection I would refer to the first paragraph of the 9th Resolution of the Imperial War Conference of 1917, which runs as follows: The readjustment of the constitution relations of the component parts of the Empire is too important and intricate a subject to be dealt with during the War, and should form the subject of a special Imperial Conference to be summoned as soon as possible after the cessation of hostilities. I would, however, point out to my hon. and gallant Friend that under the Imperial War Cabinet system as developed during the last two years, and carried on in the deliberations of the British Empire Delegation now sitting in Paris, the Dominions and India have, in fact, enjoyed a most effective participation both in the control of the conduct of the War and in the framing of the terms of peace.

Major O'NEILL

Is this Imperial Conference to be set up immediately?

Lieutenant-Colonel AMERY

That is no doubt a matter on which the Secretary of State will consult with the other Governments concerned.

Major O'NEILL

Is not this one of the most important matters of Reconstruction with which the Empire has to deal and is the Government not going to take some definite steps to set up some council which will decide what is to be the future government of the Empire as a whole?

Lieutenant-Colonel AMERY

I thought I had made it clear that such a council can only be set up by common consultation between all the Governments of the Empire and that common consultation will take place at a special conference as soon as may be convenient to all the Governments concerned.