Orders of the Day — Profits Tax Bill

Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 11 November 1949.

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Photo of Mr Henry Strauss Mr Henry Strauss , Combined English Universities 12:00, 11 November 1949

I am content that the hon. Member has made clear what was the main point of his speech, if the House was under any misapprehension about it, but he will not think that I agree with his summary of the speech of my right hon. Friend. There is one thing in which I very much agree on this occasion with the hon. Member for West Fife. He said that the Economic Secretary to the Treasury ought to say what he meant. I think that is a very good idea indeed, and I am sorry that I am making these remarks in the absence of the Economic Secretary. In considering the Third Reading of this Bill we cannot forget the background against which it is being considered—the background is the question of the survival of this country; and in saying that I am not quoting only my right hon. and hon. Friends but also what was said by the Prime Minister and the Chancellor of the exchequer in recent Debates which will be within the memory of the House. If we are to take some measures to secure our survival—and we must remember that this Bill is one of the measures which is being put forward with that purported object—we must use words accurately and with some meaning. In a recent speech the Financial Secretary to the Treasury used these words: I am afraid that the dollar crisis is probably here for our lifetime. One of the very few things that cannot be here for our lifetime is any sort of crisis, unless our lifetime is to be particularly short.

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