Mr. Attlee Faces Barrage Of Interjections

Chronicle (Levin), 13 January 1949, Page 5

Mr. Attlee Faces Barrage Of Interjections

-Reuter-

CovyrwhtJ

Rc.ceived Wednesday, 7 p.m. LONDON, Jan. 12. The Prime Ministcr, NEr Attlee, fiii-cd a rnwdy meeting sitid many inioiis when he made his first puldic .speecli as a prospeetivo Labou; eandidate l*or the West Walthamstow division seat at West Walthamstow Mr. Attlee at present represents Liniehouse wliich will disappear under the redist ribnt ion oi" seats. Dnring an nrgnment between big groups at the haek oi' the liall, one mar. had his faeo cut and tlie police wero ealled to restore order. At I'nue.s, Mrs. Manning, Labour memlier who i'ollowed Mr. Attlee., was inaudihle a's ' inter.jeetors ealled " Yon 're a .Jewish collahorator " and "Down with the Coinmunists. " Mr. Attlee, in his address, said: We have had a great experiment in democrat i* .soeialisni. The vast niajor ity oi people in t his eountrv are t'reer tinui tliey were before. " When lie said that Britain was not going haek to her position in the nineteenth cenlnrv, several voiees sliouted: "Not while yon are there. " Het'erring to international eoopera tion, Mr. Attlee said: "While we want eooperation, we are met with abuse and attaeks alJ the tinie from Communisl paities everywliere. " ( 'ompariiig the rrcords of Britain Labour Oovernment with the Government of Russia wliich he said denounced Britain as an Imperialist country, Mr. Attlee said: "There is no right of selfdelermi nation in Itussia. " Jle added that the countries behind the iron eurtain longed to come into the Marshal' plan luit the ("oininuuist parties had tomentcd strife and done everything they eould to pre\ ent Marshall aid trom succeeding. They did not ea ro wliat. happened to workers and were eonceriied oniv with the spreading of their own ideologv. Sustained interniptions, largely about Palestine, continued and the chairman of the meeting said: "If you don't keep quiet I shal 1 liave to ask yon togo and if you don't go, we shall have to put you out." Mr. Attlee continued: "Thoso of us who have spent so Jong ligliting for freedom don't regard the Communist Party as on the Left in manv things They are on the extreme Riglit and far more reactionary than the Cpnservatives. " When another interjector ealled: ' ' How should we get on without Mar shall aid?" Mr. Attlee repJied: "There was American aid after the 191S war. Why should we not have American aid today? It is extremely wise and generous of the Americans because they see, as we have seen for many years, that no nation can make itself happy whilst the rest of the world is miaerable. " «, When the meeting ended, most of the audience sang the National Anthem but a small section followed immediately writh the ' ' Red Flag. " ^ * K —