§ 71. Mr. Turtonasked the First Commissioner of Works whether he will consider the removal of the railings round those London parks in which trenches have been constructed so as to allow easy access to the trenches on the occasion of an air raid in time of war?
§ The First Commissioner of Works (Sir Philip Sassoon)I agree with my hon. Friend that this is a question that will have to be considered so that action can, if necessary, be taken in the event of a state of emergency arising.
§ Mr. TurtonDoes the right hon. Gentleman not consider that in existing circumstances if an air-raid warning occurred after the park closing time, there would be great congestion and delay?
§ Sir P. SassoonI am looking into it.
§ Captain McEwenIs it not a fact that in the event of an air raid one would be just as safe lying on one's face on the road outside the railings, as one would be inside?
§ 74. Mr. Selley (for Mr. Doland)asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will state, in the event of an emergency, and to avoid panic and congestion on the roads, what organisation will be set up to cover those persons who have their own transport, and are entitled to leave vulnerable areas for safer places in the country and have made arrangements for billeting; and when will he issue these instructions?
§ The Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department (Mr. Lloyd)Attention has been given by the police to the question of special arrangements for facilitating the flow of traffic by road from vulnerable areas; but the matter, which depends for its treatment primarily upon local circumstances, is not one on which it is proposed to issue any public announcement at the present juncture.