§ 64. Sir A. Southbyasked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Economic Warfare to what extent iron ore is now being exported from Sweden to Germany; and whether representations have been made to the Swedish Government to put an end to the supply to Germany of this vital war material.
§ The Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Economic Warfare (Mr. Dingle Foot)His Majesty's Government and the United States Government have on various occasions made representations to the Swedish Government regarding the volume of iron ore shipments to Germany and the importance of Swedish iron ore to the German war effort. In particular, this subject was fully discussed during the Anglo-American-Swedish regotiations which took place in London last year. Following these negotiations the Swedish Government, as they have already announced, made arrangements to limit their exports of iron ore to Germany during 1944 to a maximum of 7,000,000 33 tons. This compares with over 10,000,000 tons in 1943. In addition there are small exports to other Axis countries.
§ Sir A. SouthbyCan my right hon. Friend say what proportion of the Swedish exports of iron ore to Germany comes from Granfesberg Mine and whether that mine is not owned by Wallenbergs, who came over to this country and conducted the negotiations here?
§ Mr. FootI think that question ought to be put down. I should not like to accept the accuracy of this statement without notice.