INADEQUATE DEFENCES

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26606, 31 October 1947, Page 5

INADEQUATE DEFENCES

BRITISH FORCES REDUCTIONS FEARS EXPRESSED IN LORDS LONDON, Oct. 29. Winding up the long debate in the House of Lords on the present position of the armed services, Lord Nathan said the Government had no thought of allowing Britain to lost her commanding position in the aeronautical world. He believed Britain was abreast of, if not ahead of, any other country in aero-dynamic thought. He declared that the Whittle design jet engine was already obsolete,' and that naw engines were being developed in “Britain which represented an advance over the older types. Lord Newall said that all knew the cuts in the forces were inevitable but it was .feared they would make Britain’s defences unbalanced and inadequate. For a long time to come the only means of meeting any threat would be by air. He hoped that research was going on and that Britain would not fall behind other countries. Lord Croft expressed the fear that in its desire to ease the burden of austerity the Government might be persuaded'to imperil the safety of the realm by yielding to political pressure. Experiences of Past Neither of the two world wars need have occurred had Britain been sufficiently strong. It would have been expensive, but would still have been cheap compared with the results (cheers). Lord Teynham described the depletion of the Home Fleet as “ disgraceful,” and said the Royal Navy had never been so humiliated since the Dutch admiral, De Ruyter, sailed up the Thames. Lord Chatfield said there was no doubt that cuts had to be made in the navy. The only question was whether they should be carried out gradually or imposed all at once. He hoped the Government had plans to bring the services back to a full level of efficiency if it saw the red light three or four years ahead. Peace-time Strength Exceeded Lord Hall, winding up the debate for the Government, said: “No one I would think, listening to the speeches, Ithat Britain still has 1,250,000 men in Ithe armed services. This figure is fconsiderably in excess of what could Ipe regarded as normal peace-time Strength. Expenditure on the three Services during the current year will ■mount to £900,000,000, a colossal Bgure which everyone will agree lyould be impossible in a peace-time. Budget. I “ Immobilisation of the Home Fleet [must not be misunderstood or exaggerated. All the ships in the Home Fleet will be kept in commission, and restored to full operational standards as soon as the impeding readjustments in their complements have been completed.”