Debate on the Address.

Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at on 20 November 1934.

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Photo of Major Abraham Lyons Major Abraham Lyons , Leicester East

Those of my colleagues who received Liberal votes did not come into the House and then rat the Government they promised to support. They supported the Government in treating great problems in a broad, national spirit, and I have yet to find one of my colleagues who obtained Liberal votes who got into the House and then withdrew the support which he promised to give to the Government, on which promise he got the votes in the first instance.

After three years of this Government we might very properly take credit for the fact that they have overcome the greatest financial crisis which the country has ever known. To-day we are starting a new Session with the knowledge that the financial crisis is behind us. When a criticism is made by an hon. Gentleman opposite about the amount of benefit which the capitalistic classes, as he called them, would receive from the Government, we might ponder on the great measure of financial benefit that has been received by millions of working people in this country and by the 2,000,000 people who are unhappily not in work. They find to-day, at any rate, that their benefits are in no way endangered. The emoluments to which they are entitled from the State by virtue of their contributions have never been suspended, and to-day, perhaps more than at any time since the passing of the Bill a few months ago, they are completely safeguarded in the benefits to which they are entitled and the purchasing power of that income.

I want to share the view which has been expressed by the hon. Member for Leigh (Mr. Tinker) on the question of hours. I have no doubt that the House will accept the assurance given last week by the Minister of Labour that a conference is immediately to be held to examine this problem from every angle. I think the time has now come when we can evolve by mutual co-operation a dual scheme, first, of "work-sharing" and distribution of overtime and the distribution of work to men who have been unemployed for long periods; and, secondly, a curtailment of the working day and the working week. I am sure the Minister of Labour will give full consideration to the report which has just been submitted to him by one of his own officers who has investigated the experiment tried by a well-known firm of manufacturing chemists in the Midlands which has continued the system of a five-day week after giving it a probationary period. Because it is not in the King's Speech in so many words, that is not to say that some such system will not be put into operation generally. I think we all have complete confidence in the undertaking given by the right hon. Gentleman last week, and I have no doubt the conference to which he referred will get to work speedily. It is our hope that it will be successful, so that this experiment may be introduced on a widespread scale for the benefit of the workers of this country. I believe we ought to supplement a guaranteed period of work with a guaranteed period of leisure, giving fuller opportunities for enjoyment for the workers through the introduction of the seven-hour day or the five-day week and without diminution of earnings.

I would like to say one or two words about the reference made in the Gracious Speech to further Imperial air communications. We have recently seen a tremendous achievement in British aviation, and, without minimising it in any way, I feel that when people begin to talk of those vast spaces, long distances and record times we get a little panicky about speeds and records without any relation to the facts. I am glad to see that measures are to be introduced to accelerate Imperial air services. During the last Recess I had an opportunity of going to the Cape and back by the Imperial Airways Service, which is a marvel of transport and perfected organisation. There is no doubt that in an Empire like ours air services are of vital importance, and any possible acceleration of them should be undertaken. We must not stand still, because the air may very well become the road, the rail and the sea of the future, and it behoves us to marshal to our imperial aid every improvement in air services.

As regards the over-riding problem of peace, I do not suppose there is any division of opinion among thinking men and women. It is the hope and the determination of every one in this land that there shall be lasting peace, not merely in this country, but all the world over. I did not like the reference made by the right hon. Member for Caithness, who, I am sure, is just as devout in his desire for peace as we are, when he spoke about the frontal attack made last week by the Foreign Secretary. I do not think any Government could have worked harder for peace than have the present Government during the last three years. No greater efforts for peace could have been made than those which have been put forth, in times of great difficulty, by the Foreign Secretary. The whole position in Europe in the last three years has been fraught with the gravest danger, and I tremble to think what the position, not merely of this country, but of the whole Continent would have been if we had not had the Government we have to speak for the whole mass of the people in their profound desire for peace—headed by a Prime Minister and a Foreign Secretary who, supported by all their colleagues, have left no stone unturned to use the great influence of this country in the councils of Europe towards securing world peace and world understanding. It does not help the cause of peace for a right hon. Gentleman who has been himself a Member of this Government to criticise the speech of the Foreign Secretary as being a frontal attack on a misnamed peace ballot which is opposed by many thinking people.

We are approaching a momentous year, in which there will be great celebrations throughout the whole Empire, and I venture to hope that the Government, who have shown their desire to knit closer the Empire, to secure Empire markets and to extend the system of Imperial preferences, will take advantage of the presence in England of Dominion and other overseas statesmen to form a nucleus of what might very well become a permanent Imperial Economic Advisory Committee, a committee to be in constant session, dealing with all the great problems which affect every country having allegiance to the Crown. There is no real difference of opinion in the conceptions of citizenship, progress, justice and liberty throughout the Empire, and I feel we ought to take advantage of the opportunity next year to form an Imperial Conference for all time, because in that way we should be doing a great work towards furthering the unity of the Empire.

However much the Opposition may criticise the Government, we have seen in the last three years that whereas every other country in the world has gone down, that its difficulties have become greater, its unemployment has increased, and it has had to suspend the liberties of its citizens, the British Empire has been able to maintain sanity, solvency and even prosperity, and I deeply deplore any attempt to gain personal or party capital out of a pose of defeatism. At all times we in this country have faced our difficulties and overcome them, and in these last years we have kept the social services of the country almost intact. The little diminutions that were necessary were shouldered by the men and women concerned, who did not fear to face the facts, and the "cuts" then inflicted were the first to be restored when circumstances permitted. At no time have we suspended any of the freedom which we have had. Our social services and our freedom have been maintained on a bigger and wider scale than exists anywhere else in the world. I wish those hon. Members who are so keen to criticise would bear in mind those outstanding achievements, which are the envy of the whole world.

We know that we are facing a Session which is fraught with problems of great magnitude. I believe that the Government, setting its face to the facts, can meet those problems without any surrender of British principles. When it is so foolishly said that industry after industry is in a worse state, I wish that some of those hon. Members who speak, or think they speak, for free imports, would come to the constituencies in two or three industrial areas and see how men and women who were erstwhile supporters of their political faith are now united in saying, "This is not a question of political expediency, it is a question of grave national importance; it is a matter of the economic welfare of trade rather than of political argument," and at the same time note the great benefits which tariffs have brought to various industries. Trade after trade in my division is working at greater pressure, giving more secure employment to more people and at a bigger wage, than has ever been the case at any time in the history of those particular trades and industries.

The hon. Member for Bridgeton (Mr. Maxton) had a few sarcastic remarks to make about what we term unfair competition. This country has had to encounter unfair competition from many foreign nations and in many ways in the past. It was unfair competition that caused our markets to be invaded by dumped goods. I hope that in the coming year the enterprise of industry will be assisted by the Government giving adequate protection beyond the present safeguarding of industries legislation by a greater control on imports in the case of those industries which to-day are faced by competition from foreign countries where the same standards do not prevail as in this country. It is not for us to dictate to any foreign country what standard of life its workers should have. It is our duty to safeguard, and to improve where we can, the standard of life of our own workers. We already have protective Measures in many industries, and I may say that I could never understand why a trade unionist was not the strongest of protectionists if he applied an honest mind to the question. We now have control of imports to give some kind of protection to finished products, and what I desire to see is some additional check by way of prohibition or increased tariffs to keep out goods coming from those countries which have an entirely different standard of life—helped possibly by a manipulated currency—to compete unfairly with our own. Speaking for the industries of my division, I hope I shall be with them in resisting for all time any attempt to diminish the standard of life which our workers in Leicester enjoy. At the same time, it is idle, while resisting that attempt, to encourage the sale in this country, more or less freely, of goods which we know are made by sweated labour and in shocking conditions—according to our standards.

Finally, the right hon. Member for Caithness said, "We want to extend markets." Of course we want to extend markets, but we cannot provide markets for our goods if we are to continue to allow our own markets to be the dumping ground of the world. We have a great market in the British market. Every manufacturer in the world knows the value of the solvent British market, and I am happy to think that at long last a British Government were determined to face the facts and give some measure of protection to that home market for the benefit of the millions of men and women engaged in industry. Let us remember that the number of men and women under national insurance who are now engaged in industry is greater than it has been for many years, and not minimise our improved industrial and financial situation.