§ 45. Mr. MANDERasked the Prime Minister whether the Lord President of the Council was speaking on behalf of the Government when he said at Glasgow on 23rd November that a collective peace system under present conditions was quite impracticable; and whether the Government have now abandoned the League of Nations' system of pooled security for the time being?
§ The PRIME MINISTER (Mr. Ramsay MacDonald)What the Lord President said was of course on behalf of the Government, but I must point out that what my right hon. Friend referred to was the absence of the United States, Japan and Germany from the League of Nations with the manifest result that the League is not world-wide. As regards the second part of the question, I would remind the hon. Member of the passage in His Majesty's Gracious Speech to both Houses of Parliament, stating that the Government will continue to make the support and extension of the authority of the League of Nations a cardinal point of their policy. It is obvious that this authority cannot be complete until the League of Nations has attained full universality.
§ Mr. MANDERWill the right hon. Gentleman say whether it is a fact that Lord Beaverbrook is to be offered the position of Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, in view of the acceptance of his policy by the Government?