Oral Answers to Questions — Germany – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 17 December 1947.
Mr Tufton Beamish
, Lewes
12:00,
17 December 1947
asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs if he will make a statement on the agreement concluded between the United Kingdom and the United States on the future financing of the bi-zonal area in Germany.
Mr Ernest Bevin
, Wandsworth Central
Yes, Sir. I am pleased to be able to state that agreement has now been reached and that the Agreement will be signed in Washington later this afternoon. The text is being prepared as a white paper. I am arranging for advance copies to be placed in the library of the House at 5 p.m. tomorrow.
Mr Thomas Skeffington-Lodge
, Bedford
asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he has taken note of the recent public claim of the United States Secretary of the army that henceforward America would control the economic and financial policies of the Anglo-American zones of Germany; and whether he will represent to the United States Government that in any plans which may be decided on it is the view of His Majesty's Government that Britain should have an equal say with the United States.
Mr Ernest Bevin
, Wandsworth Central
The answer to the first part of the Question is, "Yes, Sir." As regards the second part of the Question, I would prefer not to anticipate the statement which will be released tonight. I may, however, say that the negotiations are limited to questions of the financing of supplies and the operation and constitution of the Joint Export-Import Agency and the Joint Foreign Exchange Agency.
Secretary of State was originally the title given to the two officials who conducted the Royal Correspondence under Elizabeth I. Now it is the title held by some of the more important Government Ministers, for example the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
This phrase is often used in written answers to indicate that a minister has deposited some relevant information in the House of Commons Library. Typical content includes research reports, letters, and tables of data not published elsewhere.
A list of such depositions can be found at http://deposits.parliament.uk/ along with some of the documents. The Library is not open to the public, but copies of documents can be requested if they are not on that website. For more information, see the House of Commons factsheet: http://www.parliament.uk/documents/upload/P15.pdf
A document issued by the Government laying out its policy, or proposed policy, on a topic of current concern.Although a white paper may occasion consultation as to the details of new legislation, it does signify a clear intention on the part of a government to pass new law. This is a contrast with green papers, which are issued less frequently, are more open-ended and may merely propose a strategy to be implemented in the details of other legislation.
More from wikipedia here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_paper
