HC Deb 14 July 1943 vol 391 c166
2. Sir Waldron Smithers

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether, at the Hot Springs Conference, the fact that Great Britain had parted with most of her foreign investments, that her purchasing power through invisible exports was disseminated, that Great Britain was far from being self-supporting in food and raw materials and that we stood alone for a year, was made plain?

Mr. Eden

These questions were not within the scope of the Food Conference, which was concerned with methods of improving nutrition and producing foodstuffs and other agricultural products adequate to world requirements.

Sir W. Smithers

Can the right hon. Gentleman assure the House that under the Atlantic Charter and at further meetings of the Hot Springs Conference the Government will do all in their power to see that we have a fair share in world trade after the war, which is so vital to this country and the world?

Mr. Eden

Certainly, but this Conference was not primarily concerned with that problem.