Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 11 April 1945.
I was not so much addressing myself to the particular Amendment, as seeking to give the Committee a general impression, an accurate impression, of the attitude of the Government towards this extremely important question. I had no desire whatever to challenge your Ruling, Mr. Williams, and every desire to keep strictly within it, but I feel at a certain disadvantage in endeavouring to explain why the Government think that the Amendment on the Paper is unacceptable, as going much too wide, if I am not free to indicate in very general terms that the Government have gone very closely into the matter and have sought to provide safeguards which do, at any rate, go a certain way in the direction of protecting the interests with which the particular Amendment is mainly concerned. You must pull me up if you think I am going too far—but I have practically concluded what I wanted to say on this point.