HL Deb 11 June 1940 vol 116 cc517-24

4.27 p.m.

LORD ADDISON

My Lords, I beg to ask the noble Viscount the Leader of the House whether he is in a position to make any statement on the international situation.

THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR DOMINION AFFAIRS (VISCOUNT CAL-DECOTE)

My Lords, in view of the grave events which I will try briefly to recount to your Lordships this afternoon, His Majesty's Government have come to the conclusion that the time is no longer appropriate for the holding of the proposed Secret Sitting of the other House on home defence, and I hope that that view will meet with your Lordships' approval. Your Lordships will need no assurance from me that this decision has been reached solely out of consideration for the public interest. The work devolving upon Ministers and their Departments is at the present moment heavy, as your Lordships can fully appreciate, and the work of preparation for a debate of the character contemplated would undoubtedly have interfered with the performance of duties which are not only heavy but which also require prompt discharge.

The most grave and unhappy event of the last twenty-four hours has, of course, been the decision of Signor Mussolini to involve his unhappy people in the war. From any point of view the decision is a tragedy. It will drag millions of innocent people in the Mediterranean area into a combat out of which none of them can hope for anything but loss, suffering and death. That retribution will follow this felon blow, none of your Lordships can doubt. We will give blow for blow. There has been a swift reaction not only in this country but also on the other side of the Atlantic. Perhaps it astonished the leader of the Italian people to find that others beside himself could take grave decisions and act with swift directness. The speech of President Roosevelt has encouraged every lover of freedom. His assurance that the material resources of this great industrial nation will be placed at the disposal of the Allies makes it inevitable that, however hard and long the road may be, the cause of civilization will in the end prevail.

The heavy news of the loss of His Majesty's ship "Glorious" and of others of His Majesty's ships is news that the people of this island realm and of the Empire will bear with fortitude. It will not shake their resolution. Once more we salute the memory of those who have given their lives. At present the toll is heavy, but the reward is great, and your Lordships will await with assurance the coming of victory on sea and on land.

Meanwhile, our gallant Allies are fighting side by side with the British Forces a battle which the whole world watches with breathless suspense. The severe toll taken of the German Forces has retarded their advance. The direction of their main thrust has not been reached, and the superb qualities of the French Armies have never been more unfalteringly displayed. On account of the pressure of the war on other fronts, the Allied Forces have been withdrawn from Norway. The Norwegian Forces in North Norway have laid down their arms; and in order to save Norwegian territory from further destruction by the Germans, and so as to watch over Norwegian interests during the war, the Norwegian King and Government have left Norway and have come to this country. It was with deep regret that His Majesty's Government were forced to take the decision to abandon the campaign in Norway, at the moment when it had turned in our favour and Narvik had fallen into our hands. The campaign has been bravely fought by the combined Allied Forces under ardous conditions, and has succeeded during the past two months in retaining vastly superior German Forces away from the decisive theatre of war.

The time had come, however, when it was clear that all the available resources at the disposal of the Allies must be employed on the main front, where the issue of the war and the fate of Norway and of all other free and democratic countries will ultimately be decided. It was no doubt a hard decision for the Norwegian King and the Government to leave their own country. They held out for two months against the full weight of the German Forces, and were undefeated to the end. During this time, the example of the King's courage and devotion and dignity in distress has been the mainstay of Norwegian resistance. Norway has decided to continue the struggle against Germany on other fronts, and the Norwegian Government made this clear in the Royal Proclamation issued on June 9. Whereas before the British, French and Polish Governments had been helping Norway in their war of independence, the Norwegian Government will now use all their resources to help the Allies in their common war against Germany. This decision, for which the Allied Governments are deeply grateful, is evidence of the conviction of the Norwegian people that the only hope for the future lies in an Allied victory and that the Allied cause, with which they are now more than ever identified, will surely prevail.

My Lords, what the next few days may see none can tell; but what we may all be assured of is that the resolution of the British people is unshaken and that we shall face whatever tasks and trials still await us with the determination that has inspired all the actions of His Majesty's Forces up to this present moment.

4.35 p.m.

LORD ADDISON

My Lords, I think it must rarely have happened, even in the records of your Lordships' House, that so many dramatic and grave statements have been contained in one short message to the House. I should like first of all to deal in a sentence or two with the domestic matter mentioned by the noble Viscount at the beginning of his statement—namely, the proposal not to hold the suggested Secret Session to-morrow. In the circumstances I am sure we shall all agree that that decision is inevitable. At the same time, I think that every one of us who has been in touch with people outside will have been impressed with the urgency of the matter which it was proposed to discuss, that of national defence. I feel, therefore, that it would be wrong if we were to have an indefinite postponement of this secret discussion, because the matter is so exceedingly urgent; and it would not be, I think, too much to suggest that a definite day for that discussion should be fixed forthwith. I hope that the noble Viscount will be willing to consider either Tuesday or Wednesday of next week.

With regard to the other matters which have been referred to, I am sure that the announcement of the decision of Signor Mussolini has had no effect anywhere in this country save to fortify our resolution. That fortification in this particular instance has been reinforced by a large measure of disgust; for history must surely contain few examples of the policy of the jungle being introduced into international affairs in this open way. I cannot help feeling that if the Italian people were in a position to say what they think, or at all events if those of them who have a knowledge of the history of their own country could do so, this decision would be received with grave disquiet by multitudes of them. It is impossible to imagine that any Italian who knows anything of the history of his own country and of the share that British people took in supporting the liberators of Italy could receive this decision with anything but the gravest disagreement. We know that the head of the great Church whose headquarters are in Rome has expressed himself in no uncertain language on several occasions. I would express the hope that, although we know that Signor Mussolini and his exemplar will have no regard for the destruction of homes or of anything which people hold precious, yet we shall be able to defeat Mussolini—and we certainly shall defeat him—without damage to the City of Rome, which is a treasure which belongs to the world.

This decision, taken at this time, has, I am sure, had another effect upon British people. It has made us realise that it is for us to do everything that we can, and even more, to help our gallant Allies in France who are now compassed almost on three sides by enemies. They need all the help that we can give, and I am glad to have the assurance that His Majesty's Government are losing no chance of giving them all the help that it is in their power to give. Every one of us, moreover, was fortified and encouraged by the decision of President Roosevelt to which the noble Viscount referred.

I should like, in conclusion, to associate myself with what the noble Viscount said with regard to the loss of His Majesty's ship "Glorious" and the others which accompanied it. In due time I hope that we nay know more about this incident, because as it stands it gives rise to some concern as to why this valuable and important ship had apparently so little protection. No doubt further details will be made available. Our sympathies of course go out to the Norwegians, the Danes and the other peoples who are amongst the afflicted of the earth at the present time, and if anything could fortify decent people anywhere in the world to continued resistance, it would be the action of Signor Mussolini during the last twenty-four hours.

4.40 p.m.

THE MARQUESS OF CREWE

My Lords, in joining the noble Lord who has spoken in thanks to the noble Viscount opposite for the statement which he has made, in the first place I would say that I agree that it is not possible to offer any protest against the decision to postpone the holding of what I prefer to call a Private Session. It had seemed to some of us that the position of this House was somewhat different from that of another place and that it conceivably might have been possible to hold such a Session here, though not there. But I quite followed the argument which was stated by the noble Viscount as to the amount of work that would be entailed, not only upon Ministers on the Front Bench but upon the Departments, in preparing the material for such a discussion, and therefore we here altogether bow to the decision. At the same time, I agree with my noble friend Lord Addison in expressing the hope that the Private Session will not be indefinitely postponed. Whether it is possible to do what he suggests—namely, to state a day on which such a Session could be held—I am not sure, and that is a matter which I think we must leave to the consideration of His Majesty's Government. But I strongly hope that the postponement will not be for too long, because on this particular matter of home defence I am quite certain that a number of points could be raised which would be discussed in your Lordships' House with a knowledge which so many noble Lords possess almost more than anybody else.

As regards the grave matter of the Italian entrance into the war, I think we can feel that if the dice had fallen in a somewhat different combination, if instead of the disaster of the passage of the Meuse and of the break-up of the Belgian Army, the Allied Forces had been making an entrance into Germany, then Signor Mussolini would have found that there was a great deal to be said for the attitude of the pluto-democracies, and he might have thought that there were some gains to be made on the frontiers of Northern Italy which in the long run might accrue to the Italian people. That being so, one asks what is the value of this alliance; and it may be that in the end the ambitions of Germany will find themselves hampered rather than aided by this assistance which is now so cordially welcomed. I feel that in Italy there is one figure which we can regard with nothing but sympathy, and that is that of the Pope. It must be a bitter moment for his Holiness, no doubt a good Italian, to feel that his people are joining hands with those who not only follow but profess the worst traditions of paganism, and to see his own people, like the Gadarene swine, possessed by a devil and running down a steep place to the sea. I am certain we can express our sympathy with the Vatican.

There is really at this moment nothing to be said on the last naval disaster. No doubt we shall know about it in due course, and until then it is impossible to do anything whatever except to express, as the noble Lord did, the deepest sympathy with those who gave their lives for their country. I think we must all agree that in the circumstances the withdrawal from Norway was a prudent, and indeed almost a necessary, act. It involves no disgrace, either to Norway or to France, or to ourselves; on the contrary much heroism has been shown there, and our attempt to hold Northern Norway has un-questionably played its part in hampering the full German activity. As to the future, I think we may congratulate ourselves on three things: the first is that united Germany has not won a war for seventy years; in the second place, united Italy has never won a war; and in the third place, the British Empire has never lost a war, and is not going to lose this.

4.49 p.m.

VISCOUNT CALDECOTE

My Lords, perhaps I may say one word with reference to the proposed debate on home defence and the request of the noble Lord opposite that the date for it should be fixed. I am fully conscious of the importance of the topic, and equally alive also to what the noble Marquess opposite said as to the special competence of many of your Lordships to make contributions upon this important question. I am not underrating its importance if I ask your Lordships to allow me to consider the date a little more and to discuss it through the usual channels. I am not sure whether Tuesday or Wednesday of next week would be a convenient date, but it must depend to some extent on the circumstances of the next two or three days; and if noble Lords will accept the assurance from me that I will certainly not postpone it more than is absolutely necessary I think the noble Lord opposite will be satisfied in the end.

There is one other matter which I may be allowed to mention. My noble friend Lord Elibank was good enough, at the request of the Government, in view of the proposed Secret Session, to postpone a Motion standing in his name from tomorrow till Thursday. In accordance with what I understand is the usage of the House, I shall propose to ask the leave of the House to-morrow that this Motion may be restored to its original position—that is to say, the discussion will take place on the day originally named, Wednesday. The House will meet at four o'clock and not at three o'clock, as was arranged last week.

House adjourned at ten minutes before five o'clock.