BRITAIN’S RE-ARMAMENT

Greymouth Evening Star, 21 July 1936, Page 7

BRITAIN’S RE-ARMAMENT

REPORT ON CO-ORDINATION

GOOD PROGRESS MADE

[BRITISH OFFICIAL WIRELESS]

RUGBY. July 20.

The Minister for the Co-ordination of Defence (Sir T. Inskip), initiating the debate in the Commons, gave a review of his Department’s efforts to accelerate the programme of rearmament. Referring to the naval programme, he said that in ship production, equipment, ami personnel, reports were satisfactory, and while maintenance and replacements were proceeding in a normal manner, additions and expansions on a growing scale were constantly taking place. He was not aware of any anxiety in any quarter as to the naval position. Regarding munitions supply, when the new source (hey hoped to secure among private firms was available, and the Government factories were in production, s?ven-eights of the total requirements of shell, fuse, and cartridge case would have been provided for. A great advance had been made since he spok-3 eight weeks ago. in the provisions of the necessary gauges of all types and descriptions. Sir T. Inskip announced the dispersal of the Royal ordnance factory at. Woolwich, to various points in South Wales, Lancashire and Scotland. Turning to the Air Force, the Minister said that it was a new and unknown factor in future war. Its development in machines and equipment during the last three or four years was simply amazing. The best illustration was that machines were under production to-day, for regular use in the Air Force, which, five years ago, would have been serious competitors for the Schneider Cup. Coming to the question of the expansion of aircraft production, he said that, comparing April, May and June with the corresponding period of last year, delivery was about 3i limes as many aeroplanes and over twice as many engines.

Before he concluded. Sir T. Inskip spoke of the work being done on the problem of food supplies in war-time, and said that they were on the point of reaching conclusions which, he hoped, would ensure to the country an increased output by agriculture, as well as a sufficiency of supply from abroad of all essential food and feeding stuffs, for which the country was dependent on imports. Mr. Lees Smith, for the Opposition, and the Liberal spokesman, Sir A. Sinclair, complained that Sir T. Inskip’s speech showed lack of co-ordination between the rearmament programme and the foreign policy, and between the assumed requirements of Britain and the collective system generally. MR. CHURCHILL’S CRITICISM. Mr. Churchill said he thought, that, he could assure Sir A. Sinclair that in any war in which Britain would ever be engaged, she would be acting -entirely in conformity with the spirit of the Covenant of the League of Nations. He went, on to criticise the administrative system adopted by the Government, for the co-ordination of defence, describing Sir T. Inskip as the innocent victim of responsibility, so strangely, so inharmoniously, and so perversely grouped, and endowed with powers so restricted. No one could regard the experiment as satisfactory. He urged the separation of the function of co-ordinating high strategic thought from those problems connected with material supplies. The debate continues.