HC Deb 30 January 1951 vol 483 cc729-30
The Prime Minister

With your permission, Mr. Speaker. I desire to make a short statement.

In response to requests which the Government have received from both sides of the House, I am arranging that the statement which I made yesterday on the increase and acceleration of our defence preparations should be presented to Parliament as a Command Paper. This is being done in order that copies may be available in a convenient form for Members who wish to send them to constituents.

I have taken the opportunity of including in this version of the statement one additional passage, which by an oversight, for which I apologise to the House, was omitted from the text of the statement as I made it. This passage should have been included in the section of the statement which dealt with the economic implications of the new programme, and would have made it clear that to achieve the programme we shall have to re-impose many of the controls used during the war.

Allocations of some raw materials have already been introduced; others will probably be necessary to ensure that defence needs are met. Some less essential production, especially for the home market, will have to be reduced, or stopped, by limitation of supply orders and the prohibition of certain end-uses. Factory and storage space will be requisitioned where necessary. These steps will be needed in addition to the exceptional measures which, as I told the House, may have to be taken if circumstances require it as the programme develops, in order to ensure the availability of labour.

Mr. Bowles

May I ask my right hon. Friend whether his reply to questions asked on his statement yesterday will be published in the White Paper?

The Prime Minister

I think not. The statement itself will be issued, but clearly I could not reproduce the whole Parliamentary discussion on questions.