Labour Minister Rebuts Critic of British Conscription

Grey River Argus, 24 May 1947, Page 5

Labour Minister Rebuts Critic of British Conscription

(Rec. 8.40). LONDON, May 23. In the House of Commons debate on the National Service Bill, the Minister of Labour, Mr Isaacs made a reference to the Almighty in a reply to a Labour member Mr Ayles, who has been one of the most outspoken opponents of the Bill, which has passed the Commons and now goes to the Lords. Mr Ayles said: ‘My fundamental objection to the conscription is that it assumes that 'the State is God, with the powers of life and death over the minds, the bodies, and the sculs of its citizens. That is the Nazi doctrine. It is not Christian. Nor is it Democratic. It is a denial that God comes efore the State.

Mr Isaacs replied that he had no wish to be. irreverent, but declared that 'the administration of the nation was in the hands of the State, and in this Bill the tSate is supreme and must be supreme. He said: “We believe the State, rightly or wrongly, has a duty to perform. In the spirit of prayer, we are acting under the Almighty in governing the country. It is the responsibility of the citizens to defend the State, and, at the same time, it is the supreme duty of the State to defend the citizens. The Bill is necessary to maintain, national liberty without which there could 1 be no individual liberty.”