§ 40. Sir W. Brassasked the Minister of Works whether he is satisfied that labour and materials in sufficient quantities will be available after the war in Europe to complete not only the rebuilding of bombed-out dwelling-houses but other destroyed buildings within a reasonable time after the cessation of hostilities; and, if not, whether he will consider importing labour from Germany into this country for this purpose, in view of the fact that Germany started this war and is responsible for the destruction wrought in the country.
§ Mr. SandysIt is quite clear that for some time after the end of the European war the supply of building labour will fall very far short of our needs. I do not anticipate any insuperable difficulty in securing an output of materials sufficient for the building programme which it will be possible to undertake with the limited amount of building labour which will be available in the immediate post-war period. As regards the use of German labour, I would refer my hon. Friend to the reply given by the Deputy Prime Minister on 14th February, of which I am sending him a copy.
§ Sir W. BrassDoes the Minister's answer indicate that he thinks that, within a reasonable time, these buildings will be rebuilt as well as the dwelling-houses?
§ Mr. SandysIt is a question of priorities, and as I explained in my answer, we are going to be extremely short of building labour.