DOUBLE PURPOSE

Dominion, Volume 30, Issue 47, 19 November 1936, Page 11

DOUBLE PURPOSE

Main Line of British Policy DEFENCE AND TRADE (British Official Wireless.) Rugby, November 17. Referring in the House of Lords to rearmament, the Secretary for Air, Lord Swinton, said it would be a great mistake to assume that foreign policy alone was the sole justification of the defence programme. Apart from that, there was a plain duty to-see to our own security by sea and air and land. Our defence plan must be such as adequately to discharge domestic and imperial responsibilities. "The Army must be properly armed so that it can be effective whenever it has to be used,” he said. 'Tn the air we must have a force, defensive and offensive, such as will be at once the most effective defence and the most effective deterrent.” He confidently assured the House that the whole training system of the Air Force was highly satisfactory and would bear comparison wilt) any other country in the world. With regard to expansion of aerodromes, the position was quite satisfactory. Turning to machines, he described the arrangements with firms who had erected large factories connected with their production. “We get the benefit of their skilled management,” he said, "and they get the benefit from that kind of construction which is required in time of war.” He urged the House to assist the Government to achieve its double purpose of a great defensive programme and a great industrial and economic revival