§ 23. Sir Arnold Gridleyasked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Economic Warfare whether he has any information as to Germany being supplied with ball and roller bearings from factories in Sweden; and whether any pressure has been brought to bear upon the Swedish Government to prohibit such supplies?
§ The Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Economic Warfare (Mr. Dingle Foot)Yes, Sir. A large part of the output of Sweden's ball and roller bearing industry is absorbed in meeting the requirements of Sweden's national defence forces. The surplus is available for sale to other countries, including Germany. The requirements in bearings of the United Nations are, however, extensive, and large scale orders have accordingly been placed with Swedish manufacturers. My information is that as a result Sweden's productive capacity of the more important types of bearings is fully booked up for some time ahead, and it is therefore unlikely that enemy purchases of this type will appreciably increase. As regards the second part of the Question, matters of this kind are frequently the subject of communications between His Majesty's Government and neutral Governments, but it would not be in the public interest to reveal the nature of such communications.