“We must export to get necessities. We could not produce more than perhaps half our food. We had no raw materials, except coal and iron. Now we were importing both. We were even bringing coals to Newcastle, at least figuratively. All these imports must be paid for by exports. ... At first our main competitors—Germany and Japan—were out of the race. Now they were coming along very fast. We must not relax; on the contrary, we must make even greater efforts.”

Speech in Newcastle (25 May 1956), quoted in The Times (26 May 1956), p. 6
Chancellor of the Exchequer

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Harold Macmillan26

British politician 1894–1986

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