§ 47. Mr. Emrys Hughesasked the Prime Minister what was the nature of his reply to the letter sent him by the Society of Friends calling for fresh initiatives to stop the fighting in Korea, to bring this war to a speedy end, and to lay the foundation of a true peace in the Far East.
§ The Prime MinisterI have taken due note of the letter referred to by the hon. Member, which has been acknowledged.
§ Mr. HughesWould not the Prime Minister think of taking the advice of the Society of Friends? There is a big volume of public opinion in this country that wants a new initiative for stopping the war in Korea.
§ The Prime MinisterSome of that might have been thought about by the partisans, with whom the hon. Gentleman associates his opinions, before they invaded, by an act of deliberate aggression, South Korea.
§ Mr. HughesI have never been associated with any of these partisans.
§ Mr. J. HudsonIn view of the long record of the Society of Friends in relation to questions of peace, would not the right hon. Gentleman consider their claims quite irrespective of any other views that are put forward in the matter? Could he not give further consideration to the quite genuine appeal that they made to him to make new efforts to settle the difficulties in the Far East?
§ The Prime MinisterNo one would be more pleased than Her Majesty's Government if matters in the Korean Peninsula came to a peaceful conclusion, and nothing that we have done has in any way hampered that. But we have been attacked. Our Allies are bearing nine-tenths, or it may be nineteen-twentieths, of the burden in sustaining that attack; and I do not think that we should try to plead the case as if we were the guilty party or our Allies were the guilty party. Nothing would please us better or would be more in British interests than that all this matter were wound up, but nothing would be more fatal to British interests than that we should fall out from the line having definitely taken our decision with the full authority of both the great parties in the State.