LIBERALS IN BRITAIN.

Press, Volume LXVI, Issue 20025, 5 September 1930, Page 11

LIBERALS IN BRITAIN.

NO FUSION WITH LABOUR.

PARTY MANIFESTO ON TARIFFS.

(bbitish omciUj wihelms.)

(Received September 4th, 5.5 p.m.)

RUGBY, September 3.

Recent rumours regarding the possibility of a fusion between the' Labour and Liberal Parties were answered in the manifesto of the Executive Committee of the National Liberal Federation, which will be discussed at tha meeting of the Council of the Federation at Torquay next month.

The manifesto, which had been prepared to afford guidance to candidates and others, deals at length with the tariff question, and- declares: There is no hope of economic recovery unless the system of open markets, upon which the very existence of the nation depends, is maintained. Britain's true policy, it adds, is to take the lead, in co-operation with other Free Trade or low tariff countries, in a movement towards a general reduction of tariffs, which are as necessary for world peace and prosperity as a general reduction of armaments. It advocates a vigorous policy of Empire development by means other than tariffs, and outlines proposed measures for industrial reorganisation, the development of agriculture, and a revision of the system of unemployment relief.

Regarding co-operation with Labour the manifesto gives the terms of the resolution put forward for discussion at Torquay, i.e.: "That while approving of the conditions under which the Leader of the Liberal Parliamentary Party has met the Prime Minister, for consultation upon national questions, the Council reaffirms the complete independence of the Liberal Party and renews its insistence upon its maintenance as a separate political entity and Parliamentary force."