The Aftermath

Abstract

The ‘independence and power’ to which Gaitskell referred in his statement on announcing the conclusion of Marshall Aid for Britain were ephemeral in character. Britain’s escape from dependence upon American financial assistance in 1950 was based largely upon stockpiling by the United States of raw materials from the sterling area, notably Malayan rubber and tin. United Kingdom exports, imports and ‘invisibles’ for the year showed a current balance of £297 million, while the rest of the sterling area showed a surplus with the non-sterling area of £466 million.¹ And the favourable balance of the United Kingdom itself was only due to rigid economy and the depletion of stocks. But the expansion of rearmament and the growth of foreign competition (especially from the revival of Germany and Japan) caused Britain’s visible exports, by volume, to decline thereafter.²