Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 31 October 1947.
Dr Mont Follick
, Loughborough
12:00,
31 October 1947
He asked me "What would Britain do if Russia moved into Sweden?" I told him "In all probability, exactly what Sweden did when Germany went into Norway." He replied "Would it not be dangerous for Britain to have Russia in Narvik?" I answered "Was it not dangerous to allow the Germans to go through Sweden to attack Norway in the rear?" He then said that, in two World wars, his country had become rich and prosperous, and was now like a big fat worm waiting to be gobbled up. That is the state of the foreign markets throughout Europe. None of them could be called certain or reliable. The only ones upon which we can look with any certainty as being reliable are those which were, very largely, built up throughout the Dominions and the Empire generally, by emigration from this country. [An HON. MEMBER: "Like Canada."] My hon. Friend says, "Like Canada." Canada is a great market, and in the matter of importing and exporting, it is one of our best markets. I would like to see a continuation of emigration from this country into the Commonwealth and Empire so that the population of the British Isles can be brought down to about 35 million. We could feed that number, and the people who emigrated would be building up reliable and certain markets for our exports.