MR STRACHEY ATTACKED

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 70, Issue 119, 4 March 1950, Page 5

MR STRACHEY ATTACKED

LONDON PAPER’S ARTICLE DOWNING STREET ISSUES DENIAL (N Z.P. A.—Copy right) LONDON, March 3. Britain’s new Secretary of State for War (Mr John Strachey) has become the target for intensive criticism by London newspapers.

Last night, the “Evening Standard” gave banner headlines to a front-page story about Mr Strachey and the case of Klaus Fuchs, who was sentenced this week for betraying British atomic secrets.

The headlines said: “Fuchs and Strachey Great New Crisis. War Minister Has Never Disavowed Communism. Now Involved in M. 1.5 Inefficiency Probe.” This attack brought unprecedented action from No. 10 Downing Street, in the form of a statement issued at 11 p.m., G.M.T. The statement said that the charges by the “Evening Standard” were untrue and that the headlines were “disgraceful.” The “Daily Express” also demanded that Mr Strachey should be dismissed. It quoted part of a book which Mr Strachey wrote in 1932. In this book he said: “The coming of Communism alone can render our problems soluble.” The newspaper also quoted another book written by Mr Strachey in 1936, in which he said: “Communists work for the establishment of socialism as a necessary transition stage on the road to Communism.”

The “Daily Express” comments: “In view of his past sympathies, it is highly undesirable that Mr Strachey should be responsible for Britain’s counter-espionage'section. He will not command sufficient public confidence is that position. The Prime Minister should therefore give recognition to this by removing Mr Strachey from the War Ministry forthwith.”'

“Evening Standard” Charges

The “Evening Standard” said last night: “The scandal of the Fuchs case, in which an avowed German Communist was permitted to know our deepest atom bomb secrets and to pass them on to the Russians, has led to a widespread demand for a complete overhaul and purge of M. 1.5, the military intelligence secret service.

“It became known to-day that Mr Attlee has given direct orders for a full examination" of the service.

“M. 1.5 is a department of the War Office. Thus, Mr Strachey, as boss of the War Office, will be one of the principal Ministers called on to carry out the purge. Yet he remains an avowed .Communist. He has never publicly retracted his belief in Communism.”

The “Evening Standard” claimed that Mr Strachey said in 1935: “Like all socialists I believe that a socialist society evolves in time into the "Communist society.’” The “Evening Standard” quoted extracts from books by Mr Strachey—“The Coming Struggle for Power,” in 1932, and “The Theory and Practice of Socialism,” in 1936—t0 support its claim of his sympathy towards Communism.

“There will undoubtedly emerge now strong pressure for Mr Strachey’s dismissal from the War Office,” said the newspaper. “He was, in fact, appointed War Minister while Klaus Fuchs was on remand, already committed for-trial at the Old Bailey. “What is the precise set-up of M. 1.5? It is part of a £3,000,000 secret service, which also includes the Special Branch of the Foreign Office, the Special Branch of Scotland Yard and the Ministry of Supply special security service. During the war M. 1.5 was responsible to a committee headed by Lord Swinton which had the virtual power <?f life and death over suspects.

“Orders have gpne out that the answer must be found to two questions: (1) How did Fuchs operate as a spy for six years without once being suspected? (2) Why did the Home Office grant British citizenship to a German Communist who had not then been screened by the Special Branch of Scotland Yard? •

“The first step has been the ordering of a recheck on the personal records of everybody employed at the Government atomic plants at Harwell, in Berkshire, and in Cumberland. The. security services have dossiers of all the 3000 men and women employed at the Harwell plant, and of those in Cumberland. Before anyone can join either staff, all his personal details are taken and ‘vetted’ by' security officers.”

Downing Street Statement

The statement from No. 10 Downing Street in reply to the “Evening Standard” allegations formally denied that Mr Strachey “remains an avowed Communist.” . The statement said that the “Evening Standard” contained “what can only be described as disgraceful headlines.” It continued: “As long ago as 1950 Mr Strachey made it clear that he was in fundamental disagreement with the Communist Party, of which he has never been a member. In 1943 he rejoined the Labour Party, of which he has since continued to be a member, and he' has, in the fullest scense, been publicly identified with the Labour Party’s known attitude of opposition to the Communist Party and its doctrines.” The statement said that Mr Strachey’s earlier writings had been well known since the date of their publication. They had never been held to be any disqualification for other posts he had held, and 1 there was no possible justification for raising such a question at the present time.

Comment on Incident

The “News Chronicle,” commenting on the allegations of the “Evening Standard, said: “The Government is well aware that United States opinion is very disturbed by the Fuchs case, and they realise that if the ‘Evening Standard’s attack had been allowed to go unanswered, these allegations against Mr Strachey would have been spread throughout America and other countries.

“The unusual step of issuing a categorical statement from Downing Street was presumably decided upon by the Prime Minister himself. The issue is almost certain to be further ventilated in Parliament.”