HC Deb 23 February 1939 vol 344 c558
47. Lieut.-Commander Fletcher

asked the Prime Minister whether it remains the policy of His Majesty's Government that there is no need for the enlistment of large numbers of infantrymen with a view to service on the Continent?

The Prime Minister

The policy of His Majesty's Government is to recruit to the establishment of the Army as it will appear in the Army Estimates for 1939. That establishment is fixed with regard to the calls which may be made upon the Army in any part of the world.

Lieut.-Commander Fletcher

How can the statement contained in my question, which was made by the Home Secretary last year, be reconciled with the Prime Minister's statement that in the event of an attack on France we should have to co-operate immediately?

The Prime Minister

I do not think that that is a question which can be very well debated in present circumstances.

Mr. Cocks

Does the right hon. Gentleman think he could find some substitute for the army that he threw away in Czecho-Slovakia?