CHURCHILL’S ATTACK ON SETTING UP OF COMMONWEALTH

Grey River Argus, 30 October 1948, Page 7

CHURCHILL’S ATTACK ON SETTING UP OF COMMONWEALTH

Swan Song Of Die-hard Toryism

LONDON, October 28.

Following Mr Churchill in his Ad-dress-in-Reply speech in the House of Commons to-day, the Lord President of the Council, Mr Herbert Morrison, described it as the “least effective criticism of the Government that he has made” CHURCHILL QUESTIONS TERM “COMMONWEALTH” Mr Churchill, opening his speech, said the Statute of Westminster had swept away constitutional safeguards which seemed to cramp the freedom and independence of the great selfgoverning Dominions. The Statute relied for the unity and cohesion of the Empire solely upon the link of the Crown. They were now asked to consider the abandonment of that sole remaining symbol and legal foundation of the Empire. The words ‘Empire’. ‘Dominion’, and ‘British’, which had hitherto claimed many loyalties and much agreement, had associated with them well-known conceptions. He continued: “Apparently the Socialist Government wish to direct us into channels where these words will be heard no more or as little as possible. Indeed, I wonder that the word ‘Commonwealth’ should satisfy the requirements of Socialist statesmanship. If all these exclusions and inhibitions are to be dropped, it would seem only logical to adopt some completely loose and meaningless term” .

’He said: “Such grave constitutional changes should not be effected in this way. The project has caused widespread concern 1 , especially in New Zealand and Australia”.

TALK OF REACTION Mr Churchill said the Conservative Party would resist any attempt to destroy the expression “British Empire”, oi’ abandon the constitutional term “Dominion”, or abolish the word “British” from the collective designation. All good Socialists were urged, he asserted, to abstain as much as they could from using such words to enable Mr Costello and Pandit Nehru to participate to the full, if they chose, in all benefits of association without committing themselves to the slightest obligation or to any symbolic or sentimental token of gesture in return.

He says: “It may be that, within a number of years, another Empire conference will take a different view. This one was not united on the subject. There are not at the moment many Conservative Prime Ministers in the Empire. It may be that this position will be reversed in the hear future, and that a more robust spirit will prevail”.

PARTITION OF IRELAND Mr Churchill said that he had always hoped that there would be a United Ireland, but the Ulster northern counties should not be compelled to join the Dublin Government against their wishes. They should be courted, he said, not raped. He said Mr Costello’s decision (to end Eire’s association with the Crown) might well forever prevent a United Ireland. SOUTH AFRICA'S TREND

Mr Churchill said that nothing could be a greater encouragement to Dr Malan to sever all the ties between South Africa and Britain than to make it clear that, while every form of symbolic association might be destroyed, no practical inconvenience would result. INDIA’S AUTONOMY

Speaking of India, Mr Churchill said that some day justice would be done by world opinion to Britain’s record in India, but that chapter was closed. Britain, he said, could not make herself responsible for the defence of any part of India against external it! tack, otherwise than as part of her duty to the United Nations, unless the link was preserved with the Crown and unless they formed part of a British Empire or a Commonwealth of Nations, or unless a treaty, was made.

ESTIMATE OF ATOMIC BOMB Referring to Western Union, Mr Churchill said that whatever military preparations were made in the West to aid defence, they could only be far many years to come a subsidiary io the deterrent effect of the atomic bomb. “This alone at present prevents the I’ebarbarisation and enslavement of Europe by the Communist forces directed by the Kremlin”.

TORIES AND DEFENCE After referring to the fact that all talk of war risk was on the lips of all leading Ministers, Mr Churchill said that in the matter of armed forces they found themselves falling between the two stools of previous undue extravagance and later imprudent dispersal. The Conservatives took no responsibility for the present state of Britain’s defences. STEEL NATIONALISATION

He said the proposed nationalisation of iron and steel was not brought forward on its merits or to help national revival or production. “We can discern only too plainly the squalid party motives behind it. We shan’t hesitate, if we win the elections, to expunge from the Statute Book the nationalisation measures which stand on no better foundation than that of doctrinal fallacy and party intrigue”. A MISCHIEVOUS SPEECH Rt. Hon. Herbert Morrison said that the observations of Mr Churchill both on the Empire and the Commonwealth were irresponsible and mischievous, and were calculated to do a great deal of harm. Mr Morrison said: “The trouble with Mr Churchill is that he is incapable of moving forward as the years go on. We believe that ‘Commonwealth’ is a better word in spirit and accuracy in describing this extraordinary assembly of nations' than the word ’British’.” He said that the spirit and unity in the Commonwealth was greater than it ever was. ~ Mr Morrison said the observations of Mr Churchill on Mr Costello and on Pandit Nehru were not useful. No one could have been more co-opera-tive and helpful than the Prime Ministers of India, Pakistan, and Ceylon.