NOISY SCENES

Dominion, Volume 28, Issue 107, 30 January 1935, Page 9

NOISY SCENES

Many Interjections In House of Commons PERSONS CARRIED OUT Strangers’ Gallery Mass of Struggling Spectators DEBATE ON RELIEF SCALES Government Strongly Attacked By Telegraph.—Press Assn.—Copyright. (Received January 29, 8.45 p.m.) London, January 2S. In the House of Commons, in the course of the debate on a supplementary estimate of £5,000,000 for the Un- - employment Assistance Board, a number of members of all parties strongly attacked the Government, alleging that the new reduced scales of relief in many cases caused extreme hardship. Mr. R. J. C. ■♦oothby (C.) said that Mr. MacDonald, Prime Minister, boasted that he was brought up among Scottish fishermen but did not raise a linger on their behalf. Labourites: “Where’s the Prime Minister? Fetch him. wherever be is.” " Mr. G. Buchanan (Lab.) declared: “Mr. MacDonald climbed into wealth and power on the pence of the people he is now robbing. He is a mountebank. He is worse. He is a swine. He is a low, dirty cur who ought to be Hung out and horsewhipped from public life. He is the head of a Government engaged in a brutal conspiracy to smash the family life of the country. He is a coward because he is not present at the debate on the subject. He may die honoured in the end but will possibly be deservedly cursed by thousands of decent kindly souls who this winter’s night in Scotland are suffering what nobody can tell.” While Mr. N. Maclean (Lab.) was further attacking the Government, interjections began from the Strangers’ Gallery leading to the most prolonged and noisy scenes in the House of Commons for some years. The interjections included: “Down with the National . baby-starving Government.” “You are a cowardly lot of robbers. See if you can live on fifteen bob a week.” Attendants for some minutes were unable to cope with the situation till reinforced. As one interrupter was turned out another appeared, till nearly everyone in tlie gallery stood and joined in the shouting. One woman sang the Internationale. About 20 persons, mainly young men and women, were carried (struggling from the Strangers’ Gallery which by this time was a shouting.struggling mass of spectators where it was difficult to distinguish between (guilty and innocent. The demonstration had been expected for several hours so a considerable body of police and attendants were ready when Mr. Maclean’s speech gave the demonstrators the signal to begin and Captain Hudson’s voice, replying for the Government, was quickly drowned in the uproar, but he completed his speech when the gallery was cleared. It took five or six minutes to eject all interrupters and restore something like quiet. Three men and one woman were detained by the House of Commons police till the House rose. Captain Hudson, replying to the debate, said it was inevitable that the introduction of new regulations vould lead to some reductions, but these were necessary and, despite reductions in some cases, the relief expenditure as a whole had increased since January and shown a higher average distribution weekly. The machinery of the new scheme in some districts was not yet running properly. The appeals tribunals soon to operate would carry out fair and reasonable relief. The debate was adjourned. ATTITUDE OF LLOYD GEORGE Conditional Support For Government (British Official Wireless.) Rugby, January 28. A further speech in his campaign was made by Mr. Lloyd George at Birmingham on Saturday. • Sir Austen Chamberlain was present on this occasion and in a brief speech he said that he believed that everyone, no matter what his political opinions were, admired the contribution which Mr. Lloyd George made in the spirit of the opening sentence of his great speech at Bangor, the spirit of a man who had had all that ambition could offer, who had no personal objects to fulfil, no fueds to pursue, but thought that he could contribute something to the recovery of his country. In his speech. Mr. Lloyd George, after reviewing the main features of his proposals, said that he had never been one who thought another great conflict was imminent in the European field. He was much more apprehensive about the situation in the East It was not better for the fact that it had not been tackled in time. “I think events in that quarter are gradually approaching a point where the United States of America and Britain can no .longer safely put off and procrastinate. I do not like to read of China being eaten up by gulps, thousands of square miles at a meal. Surely that must stop.” Referring to the purpose of his campaign, he said that he was not appealing to any man to leave his party, and ho added that he would support the National Government so ' long as it grappled with the national emergency. MANY ARRESTS MADE Government’s Fears In Vienna Vienna, January 28. Three hundred Socialists and Communists have been arrested owing to the Government’s suspicion that trouble is threatening in February on the anniversary of the suppression of the Socialist Party, <