HAND IN HAND

Northern Advocate, 22 March 1934, Page 5

HAND IN HAND

DEFENCE SERVICES CONTROL THE BRITISH METHOD FLEXIBLE AND ADAPTABLE (British Official Wireless). (Received 12.110 p.m.) RUGBY, March 21. A comprehensive review of the means whereby co-ordination and cooperation between the three defence services is effected, was made by the Prime Minister, Mr Ramsay MacDonald, in the House of Commons, when he defended'the existing practice in a debate raised by Major Attlee (Labour, Limehonse). Major Attlee urged that there should be a division between general policy and departmental administration, and that to deal with the former a defence minister should be appointed who would be a minister of high authority and above the service ministers, Mr MacDonald, replying, said that in the transitional period through which the whole of the methods of defence were passing, one of the greatest claims for the present system was that it was flexible and adaptable to changes. If they had a League of Nations that could adequately and safely be described as a system of pooled security, the whole problem of national and imperial defence; would be fundamentally changed, but that time was not vet.

Referring to the nature of the existing organisation of Imperial defence, be said that it could not bo adequate unless it faced the problems of coordination of the defence policy, co-! ordination of finance, staff co-opera-tion and joint staff training. Cabinet’s Final Word. In regard to these points, Cabinet supplied the final word, the advisory authority of Cabinet being the Committee of Imperial Defence. The work of this committee went on from day to day, but once every year the Chief of Staff presented a report to the committee based in part upon Foreign Office information and covering the whole field of Imperial defence in its minor as well as major aspects. The recommendations and observations of that report were discussed by the full Committee of Imperial Defence and then sent to Cabinet, where j the body of Ministers was in a position I to discuss and deal with it. The review was always made in time ] for the Estimates, and revealed a very high state of co-ordination and cooperation. As a result of the coordination of expenditure effected, large sums have been saved. Finally, the House of Commons received the estimate, and it could be said that finance and administration went hand in hand in all stages. Regarding staff co-ordination, the preparation of the technical side of joint defence plans, so far as operations were concerned, was the responsibility of the chiefs of staff, wdio were bound to co-operate and consider plans as a whole. The advice of the Foreign Office was available for the supply of political data required, and in addition ministerial committees wore always at the service of chiefs of staff, and contact was kept with such committees as the principal supply officers’ committees, etc. What was very important in this really admirable piece of administrative machinery was that those who planned were those who could be primarily responsible for execution.