NEGLECT IN BRITAIN

Evening Post, Volume CVII, Issue 56, 9 March 1929, Page 7

NEGLECT IN BRITAIN

GOVERNMENT ATTACKED

LETTING OTHEES LEAD United Press ; Association—By Electric Til* craph—Copyright. Australian Press Association—United Sorwc*. '' LONDON, 7th March, In Mio House of Commons, discussing the Air Estimates, Lieut.-Colonel Moorc-Brabazon (C.) bitterly attacked tho Ministry for its neglect of aviation. He declared that the greatest vested interests l opposing tho Air Ministry were the War Office and the Admiralty.

f'By a stroke of genius/ ho added, "Mrl Churchill had left Irak ,to the charge of the Air Force, which was now offering a chanco of economy^ I really "sometimes think the Government is out for a fall. It' may be that in its great wisdom it thinks that the next Government would bo * Labour, that it will not do much harm, and the present Ministry will soon return. That is tho only explanation of Sir William Joynson-Hicks's speeches." , Captain Cunningham Reid (C.) complained that the senior lighting forces were comfortably dug in and refused to learn anything from the war or give way an inch to modern- conditions. They had carefully forgotten how Londoners nightly had to go to cellars and tubes to avoid bombs. Britain had only, twenty-orio commercial aeroplanes. France and ' Germany had 250 each. Germany had 18,000 miles of air routes; France had 12,500, and 1 Britain 1080. By spending moro on tho Air Force and less on tho Army and Navy both the Exchequer and national security would benefit.

Captain Wedgwood Berin (Lab.) said tho real problem was to-promote civil aviation and prevent its being turned to tho accursed purposes of war. If they wore going on tho processes of war, Germany undoubtedly had the air leadership of Europe, owing to her numbers of aeroplanes, accumulations of stores, and practised pilots. The only way to disarm Germany was to disarm Europe.

Sir Philip Sassoon (Under-Seeretary ■ for Air), ropl'ying to a Labour amend' ment, pointed out, that the drastic reductions made after the war had caused ' Britain from .being the first air. Power in the world to become .the fifth. No further reductions on our part would influenco other nations at pro-, sent extending" their air forces.