Communists Aided By Weak Colonial Office

Northern Advocate, 30 July 1949, Page 5

Communists Aided By Weak Colonial Office

LONDON, Fri. (11.30 a.m.). —The weakness of the British Colonial Office was a contributing factor to Comijiunist troubles in the colonies, including Malaya, said a Conservative member, Mr Leonard Gammans, in the House of Commons today. Mr Gammans, who has returned from a visit to Malaya, was opening a debate on the colonies and he predicted an extension of Communist trouble.

He said the Colonial Office had failed to realise that the first priority on colonial administration was maintenance of law and order. He thought a dangerous situation might arise in the Colonial Empire because of the price of British consumer goods.

In some British colonial territories conditions offered a fertile ground for Communist propaganda. They could meet that propaganda effectively only by raising the social standards of the people and the Government was working on these lines, as well as restricting and eliminating Communist activities wherever possible.

The sterling area could very easily fall apart. "There is a growing disparity between prices charged by this country and those of Canada and the United States,” he said. The Colonial Secretary (Mr Creech Jones) replying to the debate, said the Government was aware that the British Communist Party was making a deliberate drive in British Colonial territories. Much of the propaganda was directed also to colonial students in Britain. MUST RAISE STANDARDS He thought the Government had taken a fairly vigorous line against subversive activities in territories overseas but the menace would not be met merely by denunciation of the Communist doctrine,