Empire Must Line up in Non-Communist World, Says British Political Leader

Grey River Argus, 15 April 1948, Page 5

Empire Must Line up in Non-Communist World, Says British Political Leader

LONDON, April 13. European concert was destroyed beyond repair and no world system was strong enough to replace it, said Mr Harold MacMillan in the House ■of Commons debate on the Economic Survey and the Budget. The British Empire, which was more or less in liquidation in East was now much restricted in power and influence. The world was fundamentally divided —perhaps finally— Soviet power, which dominated Eastern Europe avid much of Asia, had openly declared the inevitability of a clash between capitalism and collectivism. It was strange how few people read or believed Hitler. Fewer still appeared to read or believe Stalin. The final hope of British recovery was the co-operation of the nonCommunist world—the British Commonwealth and Empire, what remained of free Europe, a,nd the United States. Mr MacMillan asked where in the conception of a United Europe stood the united Empire. ’-Surely in this sphere, unitv of strategic, cultural and economic purpose is essential, he said.