The Timaru Herald THURSDAY, JANUARY 29, 1941. GREAT FIGHTING SPEECH

Timaru Herald, Volume CLI, Issue 22183, 29 January 1942, Page 4

The Timaru Herald THURSDAY, JANUARY 29, 1941. GREAT FIGHTING SPEECH

MR Churchill’s latest speech in the House of Commons will rank unquestionably as the greatest delivered by him since he became Prime Minister. It will be remembered because of the masterly manner in which it disposed of a rising chorus of criticism against the Churchill Government. For the first time the Prime Minister was called upon to justify his Government to Parliament and to the people of the British Empire; opposition has been developing on the home front and abroad, particularly in Australia. Mr Churchill had to silence this opposition with the devices at hand for a democratic leader, and broadly speaking he has succeeded in doing so. In recent weeks the war has been going so badly for the Allies that discontent had to be expected. The British Empire was painfully surprised by the reverses suffered in the Far East and it was natural that an attempt should be made to fix responsibility for the relatively poor state of British preparations to meet war in this theatre. Mr Churchill, however, has not been put in a state of despair by these reverses. On the contrary, he admits frankly that “Worse is to come.” “There will,” he said, “be many delays, blunders and shortcomings, both in the Far East and elsewhere. I see all this rolling toward us like waves in a storm.”

When it was first reported last week that the Prime Minister would probably demand a vote of confidence from the House it was suggested that a division would tend to limit the debate. Mr Churchill, however, has submitted convincing reasons for demanding a a vote of confidence. This is a critical stage of the war; the im•mediate prospect is bleak, though not discouraging. Britain and her Allies will win, but while they are accumulating their forces for the struggle it is necessary, Mr Churchill argued, that he should know that he is speaking for the British people. He has no personal doubts about the outcome of the war, but victory is purchasable only at a high price and to gain it three provisions have to be observed: “provided we persevere, provided we fight with the utmost vigour and tenacity, and, above all, provided we remain united.” Confronted as he was by critics, the Prime Minister was entitled to call them into the open, for responsible public opinion both favourable adverse, would naturally be reflected in the House of Commons. Mr .Churchill has called out the opponents of his Government so that the question of national unity can be settled now. If “Mr Churchill stays the critical blast, and there is no doubt that he will be able to do so, then he will consider himself entitled to go on leading the nation and speaking for it. A leader in his position could scarcely have acted in any other way. Although the principles upon which Mr Churchill stands must be universally endorsed, there will still be some criticism of the manner in which he has defended his Government. In explaining how it came about that Britain was less well prepared for war in the Far East than elsewhere, Mr Churchill said that he took the responsibility for the relevant decisions. “Why should I,” he asked, “be called upon to pick out scapegoats and throw the blame on generals, airmen and sailors, drive away loyal, trusted ddlleUgues and submit to the clamour of certain sections of the British and Australian press?” The flaw in this argument is that a British Government must take collective responsibility for all its decisions. It is obviously impossible that Mr Churchill should hold himself personally responsible for all the decisions covering such a vast struggle as that now in progress. He must rely to some extent upon his Ministers; he must be advised and informed by them, and it follows that indifferent counsellors could be the cause of grave mistakes. The British people are entitled to demand of a leader, even one in whom they have the most complete confidence, that he should have the best colleagues available to share the collective responsibility of democratic government. However anxious Mr Churchill may be to protect all his present colleagues, there can in reality be no continued departure from constitutional provisions. It happens, however, that in the special instance being discussed the Prime Minister was entitled to take the full responsibility for what happened. The Government has been assailed for imperfections in the Far Eastern defences. Mr Churchill frankly admits that war materials were diverted from Singapore to the Middle East because it was felt that the threat to Egypt and the Suez Canal had to be removed by the destruction of the considerable Axis forces in Cyrenaica. The Middle East was doubly threatened: from what Mr Churchill describes as the Levant-Caspian front, and from Cyrenaica. Russia’s magnificent recovery in the south of her battlefront removed the danger of a German break through in the Caucasus region and down towards Suez, but a British holding force had to be kept in readiness while the offensive was taken by the Allies jn Cyrenaica. The British Government had to choose a point at which the maximum strength could be concentrated and the Middle East was chosen. That decision was triumphantly vindicated by the Libyan campaign, and even if

General Rommel is able to rally his army the wisdom of that first decision cannot be called into question. When this decision was made it was still hoped to avoid disagreement with Japan, and Mr Churchill says that the British Government was determined to avoid conflict with Japan until it was certain that the United States would participate in a Far Eastern war. This is the explanation of the weakness of the Malayan defences. Mr Churchill has absolved others from blame for the apparent inadequacy of the preparations to meet Japan. Britain did not have the material to establish her forces satisfactorily on all fronts. A choice had to be made; it was made and the price of successes on one hand has been unavoidable reverses on the other.