ABSTRACT
Robert Boothby declared that the agreement was 'our economic Munich' and that the Government was selling 'the British Empire for a packet of cigarettes'. The objections of the rebels on both sides were instinctive rather than economic. There had been a sharp fall in coal production during the war, owing to the ending of the export trade; manpower was diverted to the forces and there was a decline in productivity. After 1945, Britain's economic position was gravely weakened by the loss of two advantages which had assisted her recovery of prosperity during the thirties, namely, the income from her foreign investments and the low prices of imported food and raw materials. The first problem which faced the new Government was not how to start on the road towards the ultimate objective of turning Britain into a Socialist Commonwealth, but how to avoid financial ruin.
