BRITISH LABOUR’S FOREIGN POLICY

Press, Volume LXXXII, Issue 24900, 13 June 1946, Page 5

BRITISH LABOUR’S FOREIGN POLICY

Exposition And Challenge

At Party Conference

(N.Z. Press Association— Copyright)

(Rec. 1 a.m.)

LONDON, June 12.

Nearly all the members of the Cabinet were present on the platform at the British Labour Party conference at Bournemouth this morning, when the Minister of State (Mr Philip Noel-Baker) opened the debate on foreign policy. Some of the resolutions before the conference constituted a direct challenge to the Government. One of them regretted the Government’s “apparent continuance of the traditional Conservative Partv policy of power politics abroad, and urged a return to the'Labour policy of support for the world-wide Socialist and-anti-imperialist forces.

Mr Noel-Baker began by stressing the magnitude of the problems confronting the Government, which was trying to do five jobs at once: (1) strengthen the foreign service; (2) deal with most national problems; (3) make the peace treaties; (4) undo the economic destruction wrought by the war; and (5) build up and inspire the United Nations.

Speaking of the Foreign Office diplomatic personnel, Mr Noel-Baker said everyone wanted to see the service modernised and its members in contact with the living vital forces in the countries to which they were posted; but when Labour took office the whole service was undermanned and sweeping changes were impossible. Turning to Spain, Mr Noel-Baker said that the Franco regime wes the creation of the Axis. In international affairs to-day it stood for the Fascist militarism which had brought the world to war. The Government bad not forgotten the Republicans, but the problem was to help them to get rid of the present regime without plunging the country into the catastropha of another civil war and without bring* ing in a regime no better than that now in power. Mr Noel-Baker said that when tha final stage was reached in Indonesia the world would owe a debt of gratitude not only to the Dutch nation for a great historic act of liberation, but also to Mr Attlee and Mr Bevin for the help they had given. Summing up the position in Italy and Germany, he declared that the conclusion of the peace treaties was imperative. If a few key problems could be solved most of the remaining points of the peace treaties would quickly fall into place. The Government believed that if the economic situation could be put right then they would be on the road to peace. UNRRA had been a fine success. It had prevented a largescale famine and played a great part in stopping epidemics. Mr Noel-Baker denounced “intellectuals” who sneered at “this United Nations business.” He added that it was fantastic to suggest that men such as Mr Stalin and Mr Bevin and Mr Byrnes were prepared to abandon their pledges to the United Nations and resign themselves to another war. “The only way in which we can remain united with Russia and America is to found our policy on the principles of Article 2 of tha United Nations Charter and accept the Socialist principle that the interests of nations are not in conflict, but are common interests which can only be promoted by common action, we believe we can make a world without war. We have got to do it in the next 10 years.”