British Pathe

Unused / unissued material - dates and locations unclear or unknown.

Attlee in Canada.

C/U of the Prime Minister Clement Attlee sitting at desk in front of mike. (Natural sound) CU 'You will have read or heard of the communique that President Truman and I issued after our talks in...

Unused / unissued material - dates and locations unclear or unknown.

Attlee in Canada.

C/U of the Prime Minister Clement Attlee sitting at desk in front of mike. (Natural sound) CU 'You will have read or heard of the communique that President Truman and I issued after our talks in Washington last week. I shall not say very much about that now because my first duty is to my colleagues in the United Kingdom government in the House of Commons at Westminster. But this I would like to say. There is complete agreement between ourselves and the Americans on the objectives we seek to reach. They're very easily summed up - peace, freedom for all men with the opportunity to develop their lives happily and in their own way. We are also agreed that the instrument by which there objectives must be attained is the United Nations Organisation. There is no other way, as Mr Lester Pearson, Minister for External Affairs said in his notable broadcast from Lake Success last Tuesday. We members of the British Commonwealth of nations have a long experience of freedom and democracy. We're accustomed to working together on terms of perfect equality. We understand the need for tolerance and understanding of other peoples views. We have therefore much to contribute to the furtherance of the ideals for which the United Nations stands. If we can so strengthen the United Nations that its members act with the same remarkable co-operation that the members of the Commonwealth have always shown in times of trouble, the world would have no fear of aggression. When the ideals for which we stand are threatened, we react in the same way, instinctively. We in Britain shall never forget how Canada came to our help without delay when in 1914 and 1939 the ideals which we share together were attacked. Nor shall we ever cease to be grateful for your generous understanding and help in peace. Now once more, when the free world is menaced, you're again forward in helping to build up its defences. You and we are members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation. President Truman and I talked to good purpose about this organisation last week and I've every hope that we shall be able to announce that a Supreme Commander has been appointed.' CU 'This organisation menaces no-one. Its creation has been forced upon us by those who fear and dislike our way of life. Our purpose is to defend that way of life and to keep the peace by acting as a deterrent to aggression. Although Canada is a large country, and alas I've been able to visit only a small part of it, the world has shrunk much since the last war ended and the frontiers of this continent today lie beyond the seas which border it. The realisation of this has caused us in recent years to multiply our contacts and to take counsel together more frequently than we did in the past. I'm looking forward to acting as host to Mr. St Laurent and my other fellow Prime Ministers at the beginning of next month in London. The world's problems are urgent and pressing and we can best hope to solve them when we can talk freely to one another across the table. Our Governments are admirably represented abroad in each others capitals. The day to day consultation which goes on is usefully supplemented by the sort of conversations that we propose to have."

Cataloguer's note: This item appears to have been separated from the rest of the item (UN 2316 A) which contains Attlee's speech. Film ID: 2535.10, *PM2535*.