ASBOLUOTE safety could NOT BE GUABANTEED

Manawatu Times, Volume 65, Issue 141, 15 June 1940, Page 8

ASBOLUOTE safety could NOT BE GUABANTEED

(Britinh Official Wireless.) RUGBY, June 13. The Hon. Malcolm MacDonald, Minister of Health, spoke In the House of Commons of the risk of a German invasion of Britain and said that the enemy would probably attempt to seize certain places on the coast and occupy them as bridgeheads through which to pour men and materials. The British forces resisting such attempts ought not to be hampered by refugees crowding the roads, and civilians would do the best service by staying where they were. It was true, however, that the re* ristance by our forces to the enemy would be more simple, and easier if, before the operations started, the civilian population in those places was reduced to a minimum. The position was under review every 24 hours, and in the case where some evacuation might be necessary for military reasons, the Government would not rule out the possibility of compulsory evacuation. Mr. Macdonald said that the Government had decided against compulsory evacuation from congested areas. It was true that people taken to reception areas would be much safer, but the Government could not guarantee absolute safety. We were fighting an enemy who bombed peaceful villages and machine-gunned civilians working in the fields. If the Government compelled evacuation and some were killed, it would be assuming a hetfvy responsibility which should not be assumed short of absolute military necessity. Large numbers of parents were determined that they would not be separated from their children and would break the law If evacuation \ras compulsory. The discipline of the nation would break down. Another argument against compulsory evacuation was that a great majority of the men and women in congested areas were concerned with vital war production. For these reasons the Government selected certain categories for organised evacuation. Expectant mothers were taken from London daily, but the great majority of the evacuees were schoolchildren.