Amendment of Law.

Part of Orders of the Day — Ways and Means. – in the House of Commons at on 1 May 1939.

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Photo of Mr Hugh Dalton Mr Hugh Dalton , Bishop Auckland

We are living at present in a prolonged and sinister twilight between peace and war. In such conditions, and in these unhappy times, Budget Debates become more and more indistinguishable from arms Debates. In this coming year nearly half the total national expenditure, according to the Budget Estimates, and probably, as it will turn out in the end, substantially more than half, will be for defence. of the £ 590,000,000for defence shown in the Chancellor's Budget balance sheet—and I presume that the proposal for conscription will make a substantial addition, to which, I assume, the Chancellor will refer when he winds up to-night—of this minimum figure of £590,000,000, only £248,000,000, that is to say, less than half, is to be met from revenue, and the remainder is to be loaded on to the already monstrous total of our National Debt. And, such is the ironical whirligig of political history, the man who is presenting to-day this staggering bill for arms is the same man who, seven years ago, did more than any other to wreck the World Disarmament Conference, and by that act of almost incredible folly—looking back upon it now—contributed to break the heart of democratic Germany, to make easy the final stages of Herr Hitler's path to power, set in motion the arms race, the consequences of which this Budget demonstrates, and so helped to lead Europe down the tragic road which for 7½years it has been travelling. The hon. Gentleman who laughs was not in the House when these events took place and, therefore, perhaps, his knowledge of this matter is imperfect.