"Some armaments for Great Britain are necessary on any view of collective security... "collective security", so far from being an excuse exonerating our country from possessing armaments, is in fact a commitment demanding a higher degree of preparation for war than the mere defence of its shores would entail. The Left never understood that their foreign policy was inconsistent with their defence policy, and so must be held responsible for our weakness. But responsibility does not end there. To carry on war (and this is what we should have had to do to vindicate "collective security") it is not enough to have arms. It is necessary to possess a higher degree of national unity than a single democratic party can afford. How on earth could we expect to defy Japan, or even miserable Italy, when for years—and even at the very time when it called for the use of "sanctions"—the Labour movement had been declaring that should sanctions lead to war, even a "so-called defensive" war, they should oppose its prosecution and call a general strike?"
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Members of the Parliament of the United KingdomLord Chancellors (United Kingdom)British peersGovernment ministersEducation ministers of the United Kingdom
Original Language: English
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p. 67
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Quintin_Hogg%2C_Baron_Hailsham_of_St_Marylebone
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Quintin Hogg, Baron Hailsham of St Marylebone
1950 – 1963
53 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Quintin Hogg, Baron Hailsham of St Marylebone →
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