Britain; Today and Tomorrow

One of Mr. Macmillan's first acts after becoming Prime Minister was to appoint Mr. Duncan Sandys as Minister of Defence and to give him a directive charging him to carry out reductions in our defence expenditure.

There are two reasons why some re-shaping of our defence effort is necessary: in the first place we need to bring our strategic thinking into line with recent military--and particularly nuclear--developments. In the second place we must relate our defence effort to our resources.

Mr. Sandys made a point of early consultation with the American and Canadian Governments. He was in Washington at the end of January and then came to Ottawa for two days.

He has recently explained his task as being to re-shape and not mutilate the armed forces.

The realities of the situation today are that the U.S.A., U.K. and U.S.S.R. all have and are manufacturing atomic bombs. The U.S.A. have also developed the hydrogen bomb and it is wise to assume that the Russians have done the same. The development of the first hydrogen bomb by Britain is now almost complete.

In addition ballistic missiles with appalling destructive power are available and will no doubt improve their grisly efficiency with further research and experience.

Against these ballistic weapons there is--at present at least--no known answer. In these circumstances war--nuclear war if it came today--would cause colossal havoc and destruction--and would cause it to both sides.

There is only one policy in reply to this horror story--to see that war never happens.

That is why we are building up the deterrent--to prevent aggression by showing that we too have power to deliver destruction by nuclear means and the ability to offer instant and devastating retaliation. But we would gladly accept any limitation that was genuine and was effectively guaranteed by real international agreement.

At the same time Britain and her allies in NATO have to maintain well-equipped forces along the iron curtain--to make it plain that aggression would meet with effective resistance and to ensure that Western Europe is not over-run. We intend to continue to play a full part in all this and will meet our fair share of the burden. But we cannot meet more than our full share--we have hitherto been devoting a higher proportion of our resources to defence than every other country in the Alliance except the U.S.A. and we are currently consulting our allies on what reductions in manpower and cost could be made without significant reduction in efficiency.

Britain's defence policy therefore is to re-shape the armed forces in the light of the economic realities and of the military realities of this atomic age. We must concentrate our defence effort not on preparations for war, but on measures to prevent it, not on planning for victory, but on the protection of peace.

But let me get away from atomic weapons as the scourge of mankind and say something of how Britain is developing nuclear energy for peaceful and industrial purposes.

I have already spoken of our dependence on oil. At present we rely almost entirely for power on oil and coal. Coal on which our wealth was built up cannot be mined so easily or plentifully as in the past.

But immediately after the war plans were laid for the future. We set our scientists to work on the problems of producing atomic power for industry. After years of exciting research the decision was taken to set up atomic energy plants for industrial power production and the first of these, Calder Hall, came into operation last year and was opened by The Queen in October. Our hopes have been so far fulfilled that the decision has already been taken to set up four new stations and it may well be that in a few years all new power stations to be built in the United Kingdom will be atomic.

I myself paid a visit to Calder Hall before I left and found it most inspiring. Atomic energy is certainly something quite new in industry.

As a matter of interest the various parts of the station are picked out in a variety of colours--which I understood led Mr. Malenkov on his visit to enquire why red had not been chosen for at least one of the turbines.

Incidentally the scale of our atomic energy programme means that we shall continue to need substantial supplies of uranium and we hope to get much of this from Canada.

Immensely difficult technical problems had to be surmounted and the total cost of the whole programme is vast. The decision to go ahead on so big a scale at this stage therefore required great courage and is an immense investment in the future.

The significance of Calder Hall is that it is the world's first demonstration that atomic power can be generated not in miniature but on the scale on which electricity is normally generated and can be produced at a commercial competitive price. The vision behind the plan to turn it into the world's first commercial atomic power station is the biggest and most successful venture that post-war Britain has taken.

Another initiative that has recently been taken by the British Government is the programme for a Free Trade Area with Europe.

One of the criticisms one sometimes hears is that the day of the small countries is gone and that we ought to co-operate more closely with Europe.

Well, we are hoping to do something about that.

We have always been keen to help co-operation with Europe and have played our part in O.E.E.C., Western Union, and in N.A.T.O., but we have been baffled in the past in developing really close trade relations because we would not enter into any arrangement with Europe which was at the expense of our Commonwealth relationships.

The six countries of Europe have already announced their intention to form a Common Market. For a variety of reasons we could not join that Union but we now think we have found a means of association which will safeguard the position of the Commonwealth.

We have made proposals for a free trade area. This means quite simply that all countries joining it would eventually admit goods from the other members duty free, but would be able to maintain their own tariffs towards the outside world. In this way we shall be able to maintain the present duty free entry for Commonwealth goods into Britain.

If we succeed we shall have developed a free trade area serving 250 million people. This holds out great prospects for the future, not only for Western Europe and Britain but for world trade as a whole, since a strong, prosperous and stable Europe is the best guarantee of world prosperity. And if in this way we can increase our own wealth we shall be in a stronger position to dismantle those final barriers which still remain against dollar trade and to achieve an objective of non-discriminatory multilateral trade.

Remembering that one of my hosts is the Empire Club, I feel that I should say one word about what Sir Winston Churchill delighted to call the "British Commonwealth and Empire".

I have always felt certain in my own mind that 1947 marked a great event in world history when India, Pakistan and Ceylon voluntarily decided to remain in the Commonwealth. This was a tribute to them and also I think to us.

But of course the process of transfer of power did not stop in 1947. Indeed it is going on all the time. Indeed, only next week another milestone will be passed and an exciting development in Commonwealth affairs will take place. On March the 6th next the Gold Coast will achieve its independence and, with the approval of all existing Commonwealth Members, will be recognized as a new full member. The ceremonies in Accra will take place in the presence of the Duchess of Kent as The Queen's Representative and of representatives of all Commonwealth Governments.

Malaya has also been promised and is likely to achieve full independence this year. This is a very remarkable development when you consider that terrorism was recently so rife in the country. Malcolm MacDonald, who is so well known in Canada, has played a great part in building up a multi-racial community in Malaya. Other territories will follow this pattern and in the not too distant future Nigeria and the West Indies.

In the words of The Queen in her Christmas Day broadcast, the Commonwealth is "one of the most hopeful and imaginative experiments in international affairs that the world has ever seen".

I am sure that it will enjoy greatly added strength if not only the peoples of South Asia but also those of South East Asia, Africa and the West Indies are brought in.

This can certainly come about and it will be a major factor in, world history if it does. But it will only do so if all of us show sympathetic understanding and give practical help--not only the U.K. but all existing members--and no one has a greater part to play than Canada.

I have said something about the general international situation, about Britain's economic position and about the Commonwealth. I have left till the conclusion a reference to one, of the most significant factors in the world situation today--the power and influence of the U.S.A.

You in Canada have the strongest of reasons for close friendship with the American people--but so have we. We have been allies in two world wars, we are allies today in NATO and SEATO--and we are allies in many vital ways far more significant than any merely formal ties.

It was a profoundly disturbing fact when towards the end of last year there came a rift in that Alliance. It is futile to go into the causes--no doubt there were faults on both sides. But the times are too serious for the luxury of differences between friends. We must work not merely for the absence of disagreement, but for real understanding and for positive and constructive co-operation, militarily, economically and politically.

In his first broadcast after becoming Prime Minister, Mr. Macmillan said

"A lot of people are worried about our relations with the United States. The life of the free world depends upon the partnership between us. Any partners are bound to have their differences now and then. I have always found it so. But true partnership is based upon respect. We do not intend to part from the Americans and we do not intend to be satellites. I am sure they would not want us to be so. The stronger we are, the better partners we shall be; and I feel certain that as the months pass we shall draw continually closer together with mutual confidence and respect."

I am sure you all welcomed the news that he is now to meet President Eisenhower, with whom he worked so closely during the war, in Bermuda later this month. It is excellent too that he will be meeting Mr. St. Laurent at the same time. This gives a magnificent opportunity for a true meeting of minds and I hope that from Bermuda a real message of the vitality of the Atlantic Alliance will ring round the world.

THANKS OF THE MEETING were expressed by Brig. W. P. Gilbride.