The Government is labouring arduously for peace. The world is unsettled and nations are timorous. They would go far with disarmament, but are just a little afraid, and whatever is done at Geneva must be by international agreement. Our experience has been, without the shadow of a doubt, that one nation disarming will have no influence upon others. We ourselves have disarmed to the very edge of safety, and our consistent efforts have been to get other nations to see that an agreed limit to armaments, accompanied by political agreements of non-aggression, is the most effective security of peace and safety.
— RAMSAY MACDONALD