WAR NEWS IN BRIEF

Greymouth Evening Star, 21 May 1943, Page 5

WAR NEWS IN BRIEF

BRITAIN’S STORMS

LONDON, May 20

Snow and torrential rain fell in Britain a little more than a' week ■ago. Northern Scotland suffered severely. with snowfalls ranging from four inches to 12 inches' in depth. Tyneside had its heaviest snowfall for ’7a years. Rain, which flooded crops, was followed by severe frosts.

WOMEN ENGINEERS

LONDON, May 20. An historic union conference is being held at Blackpool. It is the first meeting attended by women delegates, most of whom are shop stewards, representing the 84,000 women members of the powerful Amalgamated Engineering Union, whose funds amount to £5,000,000 and total membership to 810,000. Women were only recently admitted to the Union. The women, delegates, mostly married, are discussing women's part in the war effort, union affairs, wage rates, health, and factory conditions. Mr Jack Tanner in a presidential address to the conference said that the Union repudiated the narrow, prejudiced view that women were merely makeshift workers, incapable of doing the job required, and on sufferance 'in the engineering industry.

BLOCKADE AND FOOD

RUGBY, May 19

The Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Economic Warfare (Mr. Dingle Foot), dealing with the general question of sending dried milk and vitamins to enemy-occupied countries, told the House of Commons that in spite of its deepest sympathy the Government was convinced that such a general action would be inevitably exploited by the enemy, and the provision of foodstuffs for nursing and expectant mothers throughout occupied Europe would involve a very serious breach of the blockade. He added that an exception would be made in the case of Greece.

CONSERVATIVE POLICY

(Reed. 1.35 p.m.) LONDON. Maw 20. The Conservative Party Confers ice unanimously sent a message to Mr Churchill expressing their loyal, unabated support. The conference passed a resolution pledging support of the Government’s India policy.

Lord Salisbury, who was reelected President, referred to the political position after the war. “It will be for the Conservative Party once more to undertake the great task and responsibility,” he said. “We do not believe in State management, always interfering. We are for liberty, freedom, and independence. That is the very life blood of our party, and that is what we intend to maintain.”