HC Deb 28 July 1938 vol 338 cc3305-7
Miss Wilkinson

I wish to make the following personal statement in reply to a personal attack upon me made by the hon. and gallant Member for Bury St. Edmunds (Captain Heilgers) yesterday. I regret that I was not present. I had to leave the House early and I did not receive the letter from the hon. and gallant Member until after his statement was over. I wish to make it perfectly clear that at no time have I directly or indirectly recruited men for the International Brigade. My whole work for Spain has been in helping to provide medical aid and supplies inside Spain and in appealing for money for the wives and dependants of those who have gone to fight, nor has the Dependants' Committee, of which I am a member, taken any part whatever in recruiting men for Spain. That was made perfectly clear in a letter from Mrs. Charlotte Haldane, the secretary, who was alluded to by the hon. and gallant Member for Bury St. Edmunds. If anyone writes to me asking for the headquarters either of the International Brigade or any other organisation of which I have knowledge, my secretary, as a matter of course, sends on the address.

It is clear from the hon. and gallant Gentleman's statement and that of the father, which he read, that the young man in question tried in several places to enlist for Spain and was not directly recruited in Britain at all. As regards the statement that men were taken from a British ship and shot on the quay, no evidence whatever is adduced except the statement of one young man who was apparently in hiding, not on the quay, but on the ship. This is a matter that could be inquired into by the Foreign Office if the name of the ship and the captain were known. I am surprised that the hon. and gallant Gentleman had not taken such a step to verify this rumour before bringing it before the House. In making this statement of my personal activities I wish further to say that I have nothing but the greatest admiration for the men who have played so great a part in fighting the battle for democracy in face of the Fascist invaders.

Captain Heilgers

The hon. Lady has accused me of making a personal attack upon her. I did not mean my speech yesterday to be a personal attack upon her. Rather, I used her actions, of which I spoke, as an illustration of how woefully inadequate the Foreign Enlistment Act was. I desire to offer to the hon. Lady a frank apology as regards one remark in my speech. At the bottom of column 3200 in the OFFICIAL REPORT I said: He found in a trunk a copy of the letter that the hon. Member for Jarrow had written to his son and he took exactly the same procedure. He wrote to the hon. Member for Jarrow and, giving the name of J. Smith, said that he wanted to enlist for Spain. He got a letter back from the hon. Member for Jarrow saying that he had better apply to the Communist party. After that, he was referred by the Communist party, who had passed his letter on, to this society in Lichfield Street, and Lichfield Street asked him whether it would be possible for him to get to Norwich to interview a certain Mr. Cornforth.—[OFFICIAL REPORT, 27th July, 1938; cols. 3200–01; Vol. 338.] What I withdraw from that statement is this—the reference that the hon. Lady recommended Mr. Smith to go to the Communist party. I have the original of the letters here, and with the indulgence of the House I will read them. First of all there is the letter from Mr. Smith, dated 7th June, 1938. It is as follows: Miss Ellen Wilkinson, M.P., London. Dear Madam,—I am very anxious to join the British Battalion of the International Brigade in the Spanish Government Forces as a volunteer and I shall be pleased if you could advise me as to what I have to do and to whom I have to write. Trusting you will give me all the assistance possible, Yours very Truly, J. Smith. On 15th June, there was this reply: Dear Mr. Smith, I am sorry for the delay in replying to your letter, but I have been out of London during the Whitsuntide Recess. I suggest that you should get in touch with the headquarters of the International Brigade at I, Lichfield Street, London, W.C.I.—Yours sincerely, Ellen Wilkinson. I do not desire to detain the House longer, except to refer to one other remark made by the hon. Lady, and that is as regards my statement that of the eight stowaways from the International Brigade who escaped on board this ship six were shot on the dock side. My informant was my constituent, and as the ship did not sail immediately this young man had an opportunity of verifying that fact. I would like also to say that the ship was the "Essex Lance" and the hon. Lady can make inquiries of the skipper or any member of the crew.

In conclusion, although I have made this apology on a particular point to the hon. Lady, it does not alter the substance of my remarks about the hon. Lady, which was to the effect that both Mr. Coop, Junior, and the supposed Mr. Smith applied to the hon. Lady as to where and when to enlist, and that she instructed them how to proceed.

Miss Wilkinson

I have nothing to withdraw from what I said, and that is that on an address being asked for, I gave that address. I want to repeat—and I am owed an apology from the hon. and gallant Gentleman—that I have never recruited men directly or indirectly for the fighting services of the International Brigade.

Mr. Gallacher

Is it not permissible, when a serious mistake is being made, for anyone to have an opportunity of addressing the House? There are two different and quite distinct offices at No.1 Lichfield Street, W.C.