§ Mr. SpeakerI beg to inform the House that I have received the following Message from Russia, partly in answer to a letter which I sent when the Parliamentary Delegation went out there, and, which, for the convenience of hon. Members, I will circulate in the OFFICIAL REPORT. I will now read the Message I have received from Russia:
§ 1st February, 1945.
§ To The Speaker of the House of Commons.
§ Colonel D. Clifton Brown.
§ We extend cordial greetings to you and, through you, to the Members of the House of Commons.
1796§ We fully share the conviction to which you have given expression that the further and comprehensive development of the Anglo-Soviet Alliance by strengthening friendly relations and mutual understanding between our peoples, constitutes a firm basis for the successful achievement of the high aims which our countries have set themselves in this war—the utter defeat of Germany and the safeguarding of a stable and lasting international peace for the future.
§ We hope that the visit of Members of the Commons in the British Parliamentary Delegation, which afforded them an opportunity to become closely acquainted with the feelings and aspirations of the peoples and Government of the Soviet Union at the decisive stage of our common struggle against the German aggressor, will contribute towards the strengthening of friendly relations between our peoples and the achieving of still closer co-operation between them, both during and after the war.
§ (Signed) N. ANDREEV,
§ Chairman of the Council of the Union.
§ (Signed) N. SHVERNIK,
§ Chairman of the Council of Nationalities.
§ Following is Mr. Speaker's letter:
§ January 9th, 1945.
§ The Speaker of the House of Commons sends his cordial greetings to the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the U.S.S.R. on the occasion of the visit to be paid to the Soviet Union by Members of the House of Commons with the Parliamentary Delegation. Members of the House of Commons have followed with profound admiration and gratitude the historic part played by the Soviet peoples and their representatives and leaders in beating back and overthrowing the barbarous forces of aggression and they warmly welcome the Anglo-Soviet Alliance which has grown out of this common struggle. The Speaker wishes to assure the Presidium of the great pleasure which it gives the House of Commons that this visit should be made and he feels that it will do much to strengthen still further the bonds which unite the British and Soviet peoples, and to foster the interest which each must increasingly feel in the institutions of the other. The Anglo-Soviet Treaty and the comradeship between our peoples which has been 1797 forged during the war forms a firm basis not only for achieving final and complete victory together but also for building a just and enduring peace for the future.
§ (Signed) D. CLIFTON BROWN,
§ Speaker.