CENSURE VOTE DEFEATED

Press, Volume LXXXVIII, Issue 26887, 13 November 1952, Page 9

CENSURE VOTE DEFEATED

Commons Debate On Economic Policy (N.Z. Press Association—Copyright) (Rec. 830 p.m.) LONDON, November 12. The House of Commons tonight rejected by 313 votes to 279 an Opposition motion censuring the Government for its economic policies. The motion was an amendment to the Address-in-Reply to the Queen’s Speech outlining the Government's programme for the new Parliamentary session. It regretted that the speech disclosed no positive, effective proposals for dealing with the country’s serious economic position, and asked the House to declare no confidence in the Government. The Government had achieved an over-all sterling balance six months ahead of the target date, the Chancellor of the Exchequer (Mr R. A. Butler) told the House when he resumed the debate on the Queen’s Speech.

The Leader of the House and Lord Privy Seal (Mr H. F. C. Crookshank), winding up the debate for the Government, announced provisional trade figures which showed that exports totalled £218.500.000 in October, an increase of nearly 10 per cent, in the daily rate, compared with the third quarter. Exports to North America in October were higher than in any postwar month, at £28.600,000.

Mr Butler had made the following points in a review of what he called “a great record of positive achievement to the credit of the Government in the last year”:— (1) Britain’s economy had improved, the social service system had been sustained, and Britain's national status enhanced abroad. (2) The Government had maintained a full measure of employment and killed the story that the Conserva-

fives would plunge Britain into industrial strife.

Since May the number of unemployed in the textile industries had fallen by 100.000.

Mr Butler said he agreed that the present level of taxation weighed heavily on enterprise, initiative, and thrift. It would not be an easy task, but tax reduction was still the Government’s prime objective. The fall in production in the last year had. in fact, been shared by many other industrial countries. They must continue a selective policy of damping down the home demand for capital goods, for which the overseas demand was still high, while not depressing the home demand for consumer goods, for which overseas demands had declined. In agriculture, the Government and industry were aiming at an increase of at least 60 per cent, over pre-war production by 1956. Mr Butler paid a tribute to “great support from our partners in the sterling Commonwealth.” Mr Hugh Gaitskell, a former Chancellor of the Exchequer spoke after Mr Butler. He repeated the charge, made by Mr Morrison yesterday, that the Queen’s Speech showed no hard and clear line on policy, particularly on two major economic problems—the dollar and sterling problem and the problem of the balance of payments in Britain.

Mr Attlee said he was all for the forthcoming Commonwealth Prime Ministers’ conference, but it was not always easy to get agreement. Other members of the Commonwealth had their views, which had to be reconciled if common agreement was to be reached.

He did not think they could get more Imperial preference, because the Commonwealth had its own ties with the rest of the world.