BRITISH LABOUR POLICY

Press, Volume LXXXVII, Issue 26512, 29 August 1951, Page 7

BRITISH LABOUR POLICY

Manifesto Answers Mr Bevan LONDON, August 27. Britain’s Labour Party to-day challenged its reoelhous Left-wing clamour for reductions in the rearmament programme in a “peace through strength" manifesto, sounding tne slogan for the next General Election. Tne maniiesto rejected protests by Mr Aneurin Bevan, the former Minister of Labour, and his associates that three-year. £4,700,000,000 arms programme vas beyond the country's capacity. The manifesto stated: “Our first dutv is to have world peace.” It added that no other aim could take Sriority and that if Britain acted now le cost of preventing war would be only a fraction of what would be required to win it. The manifesto rejected the idea that war was inevitable, and considered it unlikely that the Soviet would deliberately start war now, but world peace would not be safe until the free world had produced enough military strength on its frontiers to deter Russia from aggression. The manifesto contained no new major nationalisation plans. It was an almost step by step answer to the proposals issued recently by Mr Bevan, which suggested that the arms race would increase the danger of war. The manifesto stated that Labour had already done much to lift standards in under-developed areas. It declared that the danger to world peace would be present so long as millions tived on the verge of starvation.