CONFIDENCE VOTE

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 20825, 2 July 1942, Page 3

CONFIDENCE VOTE

ISSUE IN COMMONS CONDUCT OF CAMPAIGN DEMAND FOR INQUIRY (British Official Wireless.) (10.30 a.m.) RUGBY, July 1. In opening the debate in the House of Commons on the conduct of the war, the Conservative member for Kidderminster, Sir John WardlawMilne, moved: “That this House, while paying tribute to the heroism and endurance of the armed forces of the Crown in circumstances of exceptional difficulty, has no confidence in the central direction of the war.” He first assured the House that he tabled the motion for the sole purpose of assisting in winning the war in the shortest possible time. His attack was directed, not against the officers 'in the field, but against the central direction in London, where he felt lay the cause for the Libyan defeat. While paying the warmest tribute to the personal qualities and leadership of Mr. Winston Churchill, Sir John Wardlaw-Milne suggested that it had been a vital mistake to combine the duties of Prime Minister with those of Minister of Defence. What was needed was a strong full-time leader and a chief of the chiefs-of-staff committee. His motion implied a demand 'for an inquiry as to what caused Britain to be behind the enemy, what was wrong with our strategy and production. We were turning out vast quantities 'of munitions, aircraft and guns. What prevented getting these things to the right place at the right time? He said that he had not forgotten our assistance to Russia, and entirely agreed as to its necessity. As regards the production of British tanks, though many of them were very good, they were not good enough to compete with the Germans. Yet we knew all along about the German Mark IV tank, which had dominated Libya’s fighting, before Dunkirk. Since most of the. British tanks were made after Dunkirk they should at least have been equal to the German. The new Churchill tank was probably the most formidable weapon ever built, but, he asked, where was it, and how many of these were in Libya? Concluding, Sir John said he had no confidence in the central direction of the war for the reasons stated, but if they were to make the necessary changes the country’s stability was unimpaired and its will and determination for victory was supreme. Dark as the present situation might be, we could, if the necessary changes were made, win through to victory, freedom and peace;