Lord Winter ton’s Position

Northern Advocate, 30 January 1939, Page 12

Lord Winter ton’s Position

LONDON, January 28. An exchange of letters between Earl Winterton and the Prime Minister, Mr Chamberlain,, is published. In a letter dated January 26, Lord Winterton recalled that in March, 1938, he was asked to join the Cabinet in order that the then Secretary of State for Air, who was a member of the House of Lords, might be replaced by a Cabinet colleague in the House of Commons.

That arrangement ended when a Secretary of State for Air was appointed with a seat in the Lower House.

Another temporary arrangement, whereby Lord Winterton gave assistance to the work of the Home Office, he pointed out, had also come to an end.

Lord Winterton proceeded to refer to the scope of his work as chairman of the Inter-Governmental Committee for Refugees, and added that in these circumstances he felt it his duty to place his seat in the Cabinet at the disposal of the Prime Minister. • He gave an assurance that he had had no difference of opinion with Mr Chamberlain or with any of .his colleagues, either on personal or political grounds. Mr Chamberlain expressed great appreciation of Lord Winterton’s publicspirited action, and with great reluctance, accepted his offer. He add,ed: ‘‘ln doing so, I should like to thank you very sincerely for the help and support you have given me while you were a member of the Cabinet.”