Abstract

E. R. P. and British Socialism

This article presents information on the economic position of Great Britain. Referring to a trade policy, it has been informed that the policy represents a diabolical plot against the Soviet Union and it has been feared that the policy would mean surrendering to U.S. capitalism. A debate in this context took place in the House of Commons. Such extreme views could command very little support, but the size of the majority rather obscured the fact that a good many members, including a number of Labor left-wingers, who participated in the debate, felt sufficiently uneasy about the agreement to abstain from voting. All the assurances offered by government spokesmen in the course of the debate were not enough to allay their fears that the imprecise wording of some clauses concealed possibilities of U.S. restraints on British economic sovereignty.