Orders of the Day — Employment Policy

Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 23 June 1944.

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Photo of Mr Oliver Lyttelton Mr Oliver Lyttelton , Aldershot 12:00, 23 June 1944

It only means that the transition period will be somewhat differ- ent. We have to deal with the problems as they arise. It will be our task to release the capacity where labour can most easily be put to work, so that they can make the best products from the point of view of the Board of Trade. But, as I have said, we cannot be precise, because of all these uncertainties, and therefore we intend, perhaps within the next few weeks, to say to individual companies, "These are the assumptions which we have made. This is the extent to which we think capacity can be released and on what we call a pro forma basis. You can plan on that basis and do not blame us if events make this forecast rather inaccurate."

I would like, in conclusion, to say something on a subject which has been touched upon very lightly during the Debate, and that is the subject of creditor and debtor nations. That is a subject which lies at the root of all these problems. By a creditor nation I mean either a nation which has collected a large indebtedness for past services, or one which has, on the other hand, a current favourable balance of payments. We, in the whole of our industrial life, have always been a creditor nation but we shall end this war as the largest debtor nation in the world. It is impossible to carry on in the debtor position with the mentality of the creditor. The days are gone when Lady Bountiful can hand £10,000,000 to a poor Republic and say, I know we are not going to be paid back, but what does it matter, we will lend them the money again, and in the meanwhile we shall have gat rid of our inconvenient surplus." If Lady Bountiful continues in this way, she will find the bailiff's hand on her shoulder. We have to have a new mentality and put all our national resources to, work and make out of our own resources and out of the skill of our own workers—and there is none higher in the world—those things which we cannot pay for by exports. I am optimistic enough to believe that so great is the recuperative power of the modern industrial State that, with a measure of co-operation between all sections of industry, we can once again be rich and prosperous,' and perhaps we can solve the problem of employment which has so often eluded us in the past.