§ 3. Mr. Hammersleyasked the President of the Board of Trade whether he will undertake not to enter into any general commercial agreements which would jeopardise the planned develop- 1186 ment of production and exchange of goods within the British Empire without first consulting Parliament?
§ Mr. DaltonI can certainly assure my hon. Friend that His Majesty's Government would not enter into any such agreements except after consultation with the Empire Governments concerned and there would, of course, be the usual opportunities for Debate in Parliament.
§ Mr. HammersleyIs the House to understand from that reply that my right hon. Friend is fully persuaded of the importance of treating the Empire as one economic unit so that third parties might not allege that any internal arrangements entered into between parts of the British Empire is discriminate?
§ Mr. DaltonHis Majesty's Government are very anxious that there shall be a common Empire policy in trade and other matters, and with that end in view we are constantly in touch with the Dominion Governments.
§ Mr. HammersleyThe supplementary question which I put to my right hon. Friend was whether he was seized of the importance of treating the British Empire as one economic unit.
§ Mr. DaltonIn reply to that it would be necessary to make a long speech. The Dominions have, necessarily, autonomy with regard to tariffs and other matters, and they could not be, and should not be, interfered with, but we do consult with them more intimately than with any external bodies, and that applies to the Government of India.
§ Mr. ShinwellIs it not a fact that the delegation now in the United States with which Lord Keynes is associated have concluded provisional agreements on monetary and commercial matters with United States' representatives and that there has been no consultation whatever on these matters with the Dominion Governments?
§ Mr. DaltonNo, Sir, my hon. Friend is quite wrong. There have been informal and exploratory discussions proceeding in Washington for some time, but we are still at a very early stage in these discussions, and far from the conclusion even of a provisional agreement, and my hon. Friend therefore is wrong on that point. He is also wrong on the other point, 1187 namely, that these discussions have taken place without consultation with the Dominions. There have been such consultations.
§ Mr. ShinwellMay I ask my right hon. Friend categorically whether, in spite of what he has said, an agreement has not been reached which is called an experts' agreement, and that in the discussions the Dominions have not been considered at all? They have not been represented, and they are not at present represented, in the United States, they are not part of the delegation, and on the points raised in the discussions there have been no consultations with them whatever.
§ Mr. DaltonMy hon. Friend has got hold of a wholly wrong version of what has been taking place. I repeat, and this has been stated by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer with regard to other matters under discussion, that there have been officials representing not one but several Departments of His Majesty's Government in Washington discussing—I repeat, in an informal and exploratory fashion—with American officials problems of common concern. The Dominions Governments have been kept fully aware of what was going on, but at present we are very far indeed from the conclusion of any agreement, however provisional.
§ Mr. Quintin HoggIs it not a fact that informal protests were made on behalf of the Australian Government with a possibility to their being represented in these informal and exploratory discussions and is it not a fact that those protests were rejected?
§ Mr. DaltonNo, Sir.
§ Mr. Ivor ThomasWould my right hon. Friend remind the hon. Members behind him, especially the hon. Member for Oxford City (Mr. Hogg), that 41 of them are pledged to interdependence of nations?