May 7, 2015

Finest Hour 117, Winter 2002-03

Page 46

Edited and annotated by Paul H. Courtenay

Question Time is that period in the Parliamentary week where Members are allowed to ask the Prime Minister any question, governed only by decorum and the judgment of the Speaker as to whether they are genuinely asking questions or (commonly) giving a speech. Churchill was a master of Question Time, as Mr. Courtenay demonstrates.

Fish and Chips

Mr. Hector Hughes (Lab.), 17 June 1954: “Will the Prime Minister reconsider his refusal to separate the Ministry of Agriculture from the Ministry of Fisheries?” WSC: “It would not, I feel, be a good arrangement to have a separate Department for every industry of national importance…. after all, there are many ancient links between fish and chips.”

2024 International Churchill Conference

Join us for the 41st International Churchill Conference. London | October 2024

More

China Card

On 30 September 1942 a Member asked whether, in view of the visit to China of a Parliamentary deputation, both Houses of Parliament should pass a resolution of sympathy and goodwill to China. WSC: “The suggestion was carefully considered. It was felt, however, that as the Lord Chancellor and the Speaker had been asked to select the personnel of the delegation it would be appropriate if the delegation were supplied with a joint letter signed by the Lord Chancellor and the Speaker….I think we should not in any way depart from precedent in entrusting our representations in these matters to the highest authorities….”

Fraternal Association

On 8 September 1942 a Member drew attention to the advantages to be derived from the friendship and cooperation of British and American forces. WSC: “Visits of British naval officers and petty officers to American units in British waters have taken place. British Army officers and NCOs are attached to American Field Force formations and vice versa. Personnel from the American Forces attend nearly all the courses of instruction run by the British Army in this country. There is also a considerable interchange of Air Force personnel for purposes of mutual assistance.”

British Atom Bomb Tests

Lt. Col. Lipton (Lab.), 21 May 1952 : “Will the Prime Minister state which Commonwealth Governments have been invited to send observers to the British atom bomb tests in Australia?” WSC: “None, sir.” Lt. Col. Lipton: “Is it not desirable when the economic and other relationships between the Commonwealth countries are more disrupted than they have been, that they should be brought into consideration which would enable Commonwealth observers to be present? May I ask the Prime Minister if he will condescend to answer that question? If he is not interested in the matter, then of course he need not answer the question. WSC: “It was after full consideration of all those points that I gave my somewhat comprehensive or rather exclusively comprehensive answer, ‘None, sir.’”

Penalty of Free Speech

When in 1952 the “Red Dean” of Canterbury returned from the Soviet Union claiming to have “cast-iron evidence” of American germ warfare in Korea and North China, Churchill refused to have him tried for treason and imprisoned, as some Members suggested. WSC: “Free speech carries with it the evil of all foolish, unpleasant and venomous things that are said, but on the whole we would rather lump them than do away with them.”

Stalin and the Second Front

On 6 October 1942 the Prime Minister was asked about Stalin’s statements demanding a Second Front. WSC: “I have, of course, read and considered the statement, and we are quite clear that no statement from His Majesty’s Government is called for at the present time, further than those which have already been made on this particular subject. I would strongly advise the House not to press these matters unduly at a period which is certainly significant.”

Deans in Judgment

On the decision to return the Coronation Stone to Westminster Abbey, 3 March 1952: Mr. Emrys Hughes (Lab., Glasgow): “Is the Prime Minister aware…that the Dean of Westminster is now wondering whether, on the Day of Judgment, he will appear with the Prime Minister on a charge of accepting stolen property?” WSC: “I should have thought that the Hon. Member would be more concerned with the future of the Dean of Canterbury.”

Day of Prayer

On 25 March 1952 Mr. Gower (Cons.) asked: “Will the Prime Minister assure the House that, while we have quite properly attended to the physical needs of defence and of our other problems, we should not forget these spiritual resources which have inspired this country in the past and without which the noblest civilization would decay?” WSC: “I hardly think that that is my exclusive responsibility.”

Unpleasant Truth

On 28 May 1952 Churchill was asked where all the jet planes and self-propelled guns of the North Koreans came from. Sir Waldron Smithers (Cons., Orpington): “Moscow.” WSC: “Although there are movements ever being made in aerial locomotion, it would be premature to suppose that they came from the moon.”