§ LORD ADDISONMy Lords, I desire to ask a question of which I have given private notice—namely, whether the Government can make any statement as to the continuance of the Statutory List, the Black List, after the defeat of Germany.
§ THE MINISTER OF ECONOMIC WARFARE (THE EARL OF SELBORNE)My Lords, His Majesty's Government, after consultation with the Governments of the Dominions and India, have decided to retain the Statutory List for a period after the cessation of organized resistance in Germany. This will be necessary in order that the Allies may be able to retain their control over German commercial, industrial and financial enterprises outside Germany in the transitional period while effective Allied control machinery within Germany is being established. The List will also be necessary in order to identify and maintain control over persons who have acted, or are suspected of acting, as cloaks for German property abroad, and those who have assisted Germans to dispose of property looted from occupied territory. Moreover, certain neutrals who have gone out of their way to assist Germany during the war will be retained on the list in order that they may be clearly identified as enemies of the United Nations. Finally the list will be used in connexion with the further prosecution of the war against Japan.
It will obviously be possible to reduce the number of names on the Statutory List in certain countries more rapidly than in others, particularly in those cases where the Governments of the countries concerned have taken adequate measures to control enemy interests. His Majesty's Government hope that they will receive the co-operation of all Allied and friendly Governments in the execution of this policy. I understand that the Government of the United States have made a similar decision with regard to the continuation of the Proclaimed List, which is the counterpart of the British Statutory List.