NEW BRITISH CABINET

Evening Post, Volume CXXXIII, Issue 47, 25 February 1942, Page 5

NEW BRITISH CABINET

HOW IT WILL WORK

DESCRIPTION BY CHURCHILL

(Rec. 11.30 a.m.) RUGBY, Feb. 24. Mr. Winston Churchill, making a 'statement in the House of Commons on the "major reconstruction of the Wai? Cabinet," said: "After nearly two years of strain and struggle it is right and necessary that the Government called into being in the crash of the battle in France should undergo both a change and a reinvigoration." Stating that, in some ways, the resemblance of the new War j Cabinet to that of the last war was fairly close, Mr. Churchill re- 1 ferred to the inclusion of the Mm- I ister of Labour and National Service as desirable on the grounds j of the immense advances made by labour in the State during the last 25 years. Mr. Churchill went on: "Let me explain how the duties are divided. Members of the War Cabinet are collectively and individually responsible for the whole policy of the country. They are the ones who alone are held responsible for the conduct of the war. LABOUR LEADER AS DEPUTY. "The Leader of the Labour Party, as head of the second largest party in the National Government, acts as deputy Prime Minister in all things, and in addition will discharge the duties of Dominions Secretary. "Thus we are meeting without addition to our numbers, a request impressed upon us from so many Quarters that our relations with the Dominions, apart from those between Britain and the various Prime Ministers, upon which the Dominions are most insistent, shall be in the hands of a member of the War Cabinet. "The Lord President of the Council presides over what is, in certain aspects, an almost parallel Cabinet concerned with home affairs. Of this body, a number of Ministers of high rank are regular members. Others are invited as may be convenient. "An immense mass of business is discharged at their meetings, and it is only in cases of serious differences, or in very large questions, that the War Cabinet, as such, is concerned. POST-WAR PLANS. "The former Minister Without Portfolio, who has played a fine part in all the. affairs connected with the war, is busy with plans for post-war reconstruction. "The reduction in the size of the War Cabinet, which is held to be desirable in many quarters, has led to the elimination of this office. I must ask the House for a certain amount of time, but there will be no delay before I am able to submit a scheme for this essential task—the preparation for reconstruction.

"Even though we must now prepare ourselves for a prolongation of the war through the intervention of Japan, the whole of this premediary work for the. post-war period must go forward because no one can be sure, as in the last war, that victory may not come unexpectedly upon us. "The seven members of the War Cabinet can sit together either as the War Cabinet of the United Kingdom responsible to Crown and Parliament, or in a larger gathering with the representatives from the Dominions and India. Both series of meetings will continue regularly as before. CHINA ON PACIFIC COUNCIL. "The Pacific War Council also will come into being on which representatives of the countries specially concerned, namely Australia, New Zealand, India, and the Netherlands, will sit under my chairmanship or that of my deputy. lam very glad to say that Marshal Chiang Kai-shek has just accepted an invitation that a representative of China shall join the Council. I can now say that all the necessary complicated machinery, where many are concerned and oceans divide, is working swiftly and smoothly." Speaking of his own functions, Mr. Churchill said he had originally contemplated acting as Minister* of Defence with Mr. Neville Chamberlain as Leader of the Commons, but the proposal had not been found acceptable. The task of Leader of the House had weighed heavily on him. HIS MANY SPEECHES. "During the period for which I have been responsible, I find to my horror that I have made r^ore than 25 lengthy speeches in Parliament, in public, or in secret session, to say nothing of answering questions and dealing with many current emergencies," he said. "Although I feel a great sense of relief in laying down this burden, I cannot say I do so without sorrow. I am sure it is in the public interest, and I am sure Sir Stafford Cripps will prove to the House that he is a respecter of its authority and a leader capable of dealing with all the incidents, episodes, and emergencies of the Commons and Parliamentary life. "I shall, of course, as Prime Minister, remain at the disposal of the House should occasion require it, and I hope from time to time, though I trust not too often, to seek permission to give ? general appreciation of the progress of the war. "There is nothing which I do, or have done, as Minister of Defence, which I could not do as Prime Minister. W.ORK WITH SERVICES. "As Prime Minister I have been able to deal easily and smoothly with the three Service Departments without prejudice to the constitutional responsibilities of the Secretaries of State for War and Air and the First Lord of the Admiralty. I have at my disposal a small staff aided by MajorGeneral Sir Hastings Isrnay, which works on the long-established procedure and machinery of the pre-war Committee of Imperial Defence and which forms part of the War Cabinet Secretariat. "While I take constitutional responsibility for everything that is done or not done, and am quite ready to take the blame when things go wrong—as they very often do. and as they are very likely to do in the future in many ways—l do not, of course, conduct this war from day to day myself." Mr. Churchill then described in some detail the work of the Chiefs of Staff Committee. It is his practice to i leave them alone to do their work, subject to his general supervision, suggestion, and guidance. MANY MEETINGS UNATTENDED. "For instance, in 1941, out of 462 meetings of the Chiefs of Staff Com- j mittee, most of which lasted for over two hours, I presided at only 44 myself," he said. "In addition, there are, however, meetings of the Defence Committee, on which the Service Ministers are present, as well as the other Ministerial members of the committee, ond there are Cabinet meetings at which the Chiefs ot Staff are present when military matters are discussed. "Such is the machinery which, as Prime Minister and Minister of Defence, I partly elaborated and partly J brought into existence, and I am satis-]