HC Deb 13 February 1946 vol 419 c379
36. Colonel Erroll

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether the British Government are now able to announce their policy for the future of the Ruhr.

The Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (Mr. Ernest Bevin)

No, Sir.

Colonel Erroll

Can the right hon. Gentleman give an assurance that, as long as there is a British zone in Germany, the Ruhr will, at least, remain under our control?

Mr. Bevin

I shall take steps to study the Ruhr position very carefully when we come to fix the Western frontiers of Germany, but I must be guided by the principle that nothing must happen that saddles a liability on the taxpayers of Great Britain.

Mr. Skeffington-Lodge

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that the absence of an agreed and unified policy for the Ruhr, and for Germany as a whole, is holding up any real hope of solving the pressing problem of European reconstruction?

Mr. Bevin

Yes, but that does not depend on me.