Dear Mr. MacDonald,

I have waited until you had returned from Geneva to reply to your personal letter of the 17th September.

I saw Mr. Dulanty recently, and he will communicate to you my views on the points raised in Sir Warren Fisher's letter. When he has done so, I believe you will agree that detailed conversations between groups of Civil Servants, apart from the question of publicity, would not have materially advanced the position. I am satisfied that, until an agreement in principle has been reached on the major matters at issue, no useful purpose can be served by such conversations.