POWERS OPPOSED

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22405, 12 August 1947, Page 5

POWERS OPPOSED

SERVICES BILL AMENDMENT LOST SOME LABOUR SUPPORT '(11.30 a.m.) LONDON, Aug. 11. When the House of Commons went into committee on the Supplies and Services Bill, which the Government has introduced to deal with the economic crisis, the Leader of the Opposition, Mr. W. Churchill, said the main discussion would be upon the sub-sec-tion which “seeks to ensure that the whole resources of the community are available for use and are used in a manner best calculated to serve the interests of the community.” The Opposition, he added, had _an amendment to remove that sub-section. Mr. J. S. C .Reid (Conser.—Glasgow) moved the first amendment, seeking to delete a portion of the first clause and substituting “that all defence regulations directed by Order-in-Council shall be governed by the Act passed in 1945.” Mr. Reid said the Opposition sought! to remove doubts. The amendment was a safeguard against the Government being forced By pressure from backbenchers to go further than it intended. Mr. Churchill’s Bitter Retort Mr. Churchill and the Attorney-Gene-ral, Sir Hartley Shawcross, clashed about the interpretation of the bill and the Conservatives’ amendment. The Attorney-General said doubts about the bill’s purpose existed only in Mr. Churchill’s mind. Mr. Churchill retorted that his legal advice came from men whose credentials were at least equal to those of persons the Labour Party had been able to attract by prizes of office. -Mr. Churchill, explaining the Conservative amendment, said a Government spokesman had stated that the bill’s purpose was to remove doubts about whether the provisions of the 1945 Act, which covered the transition from war to peace, applied in the present emergency. .The Opposition, believing that this was ..the only point in doubt, offered the amendment to remove this doubt. Captain A K. Blackburn (Govt., Birmingham) said he would vote with Mr Churchill because the amendment made clear that the intention of the bill was merely to remove doubt about the continuance of the Government’s powers. The Government’s Bill was totalitarian. v Mr. Clement Davies (Govt., Montgomery) supported the amendment. “Amendment Redundant” The Lord President of the Council, Mr. Herbert Morrison, said the Socialists were just as respectable in the matter of constitutional doctrine as the Opposition. He could not understand what all the fuss was about. The amendment was redundant. He did not. know what right Mr. Churchill had to criticise the Attorney-General on the advice of some “pantomine” lawyers. Mr. Churchill said the bill was intended to pillage the well-to-do, to enslave the poor and to give the Government power to do this without an Act Of Parliament. The Government should take the proposals through the ordinary legislative processes. The Attorney-General said he felt that what really disturbed the Opposition was the possibility that further steps might be taken, perhaps against employers or property or wealth. The bill gave the Government power to ' ensure that all resources, not only in manpower, were used for the country's benefit. “We propose to continue governing, supported as we are by the people, without giving the Opposition an opportunity to go to the country in an effort to exploit the present difficulties for their own party ends.” United States Attacked Cries of “Order,” “Withdraw,” “Name Him” interrupted Mr. J. Silverman (Govt., Birmingham), who criticised the United States attitude on lend-lease and the loan agreement. Mr. Silverman said the United States had allowed Britain to exhaust her foreign investments often at undercut prices and at the same time buying materials in wartime on a cash-and-carry basis. The Americans then came forward with what was called lend-lease which, incidentally, had the effect of preventing Britain from preparing to restore her expert trade. If the Americans had continued lendlease for two years, the world would have been out of distress, but they preferred to act like "shabby moneylenders.’’ “We had to borrow from them on their terms, spend in their shop and they raised the price on us.” • Mr. Morrison, replying to Opposition demands that the Government should dissociate itself from Mr. Silverman, said the Government could not be expected to approve or repudiate private members’ statements. He would not be ordered about by the Opposition. The Opposition amendment was defeated by 256 votes to 125.