ANCIENT LIBERTIES OF BRITAIN

Evening Post, Volume CXXIX, Issue 121, 23 May 1940, Page 12

ANCIENT LIBERTIES OF BRITAIN

NO MISGIVING FELT

UNITED NATION

NEW AGT IMPLEMENTED

(By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright.)

(Received May 23, 2 p.m.) LONDON, May 22

The Emergency Powers Acf, the Treachery Bill, and other measures taken in the past two days revolutionise life in Britain, but as "The Times" aptly sums up: "At this grave moment a united nation feels no hesitation or misgiving, although the new Act comes near to suspending the very essence of the Constitution, which has taken a thousand years to build. Our ancient liberties are placed in pawn for victory, and nothing less than the destruction of Hitlerism will redeem them. This temporary surrender is made with a glad heart and confident spirit, and makes every man and woman a member of the national forces." Even as the Bill made its record high-speed passage through Parliament its implementation was in hand. The Minister of Labour was meeting 60 representatives of employers and workers and outlining the Government's plans. Orders in Council were simultaneously being drafted for presentation to Parliament tomorrow. The railways have arranged weekday schedules for the weekends. Clydeside, one of the busiest munitions centres in the country, has accepted plans for, continuous working until the end of the' war, the workers undertaking to work from 8 a.m. till 8 p.m., with only two half-hour breaks for meals. The whole trade union movement has marshalled itself behind the Government, pledging its hard-won liberties in the fight for the liberty of the nation itself. The Trades Union Council declared: "There will be no haggling over anything that is necessary for victory." The general council of the T.U.C. met Mr. Bevin and the full executive of the British Employers' Confederation and passed a resolution of wholehearted co-operation.