BRITISH GRANT FOR GREECE

Press, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 25135, 17 March 1947, Page 7

BRITISH GRANT FOR GREECE

COMMONS APPROVE £19,000,000 VOTE

SOME LABOUR -MEMBERS OBJECT

LONDON, March 14. The House of Comhions to-day approved a grant of £19,000,000 to Greece, partly for maintenance of the Greek armed forces and partly for the supply of civilian goods. The Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs -(Mr Hector McNeil) said that any Greek Government must have armed forces to maintain law and order. By making the grant the British Government hoped to restrict the area of disorder. He agreed that some acts of the Greek Government could not be condoned, but spoke of it as broadly Liberal in character. There had not been a single incident, he said, between Bntish troops and the Greek populace. Some Labour members opposed the Brant, saying that they did not consider the Greek Government a representative one. The House approved the supplementary estimate without a division of £19,000.000 for Greece. A Labour member. Mr M. Edelman, the amount should really be broken up to show £1,000.000 for reconstruction and £18,000,000 for milirajT purposes. The present regime in Greece made franco’s Spain look like a Sunday school party, said Mr T. G. Thomas ’Labour), who early in February was missing on a visit to Greek fj!^ a chiefs in the mountains of Thomas : in the debate on the —uniate, reported that he had discoyduring his investigations in people could be arrested *uhout charge and could be sentenced their absence without knowing been tried. The islands found Greece were full of political he said.

Support One Side.” of all parties should look and disgust on a Governtii^u w bich seeks to wipe out opposih? b y exiling its political opponents, ’ “The Greek Governdevotes all its energies to civil makes no effort at reconstrucThomas added that it was nnP e too far if Britain spent £18,000,°b armaments to support one side ceivLPY* 1 war w hen she had just reN<m<K large sums from Australia and ?,% al ? nd lo he lP her. that JJ . A. Eden (Conservative) said Griyhile Bulgaria had a large army n?® roust have one. He referred Haria’T recor d of treachery on Bulgesttf during the war, and sugRussia should be told that shin was not worthy of the friendnation. “Urchin, addressing the Con3aid Central Office conference, mop* 4 ?? no step taken recently had increased the chances of maindSr?i,y'orJd peace and world freecSfi£^..?resident Truman’s del h e need for American as‘TFtk P reece and Turkey. a stohk United States had taken such 1914 p before the last war or before ac< ! m ight have been prein , f _ and we should all be living • rar happier world,” said Mr

Churchill. He added that Britain’s and America’s policies were of friendship towards Russia, but friendship from strength, not appeasement from weakness.