SEVERAL CHANGES

Evening Post, Volume CXXX, Issue 83, 4 October 1940, Page 7

SEVERAL CHANGES

RESIGNATION OF MR.

CHAMBERLAIN

HEALTH FAILURE

CONFIDENCE IN THE PREMIER

(By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright.)

LONDON, October 3

Mr. Neville Chamberlain, Lord President of the Council, has resigned.

Sir John Anderson leaves the post of Minister of Home Security and becomes Lord President of the Council. He joins the War Cabinet in' Mr. Chamberlain's place. Mr. Churchill also announces the addition of two members to the War Cabinet. They are Sir Kingsley Wood, Chancellor of the Exchequer, and Mr. Ernest Bevin, Minister of Labour and National Service. This makes a War Cabinet of eight members. Mr. Herbert Morrison succeeds Sir John Anderson as Minister of Home Security. Sir Andrew Duncan, formerly President of the Board of Trade, succeeds Mr. Morrison as Minister of Supply. Captain Oliver Lyttelton, who has been Controller of Non-Ferrous I Metals, succeeds Sir Andrew Duncan, j Sir John Reith, who has been Minister of Transport, becomes Minister of Works and Buildings, a new Department, and First Commissioner of Works. He has also been made a Baron. Lieut.-Colonel Moore-Brabazon succeeds Sir John Reith as Minister of Transport. Lord Caldecote becomes Lord Chief Justice in succession to Lord Hewart, who has resigned as from October 12 and becomes a Viscount. Lord Cranbourne succeeds Lord Caldecote as Dominion Secretary. Mr. Chamberlain sent a letter to Mr. Churchill, in the course of which he said he regretted that his health since his recent operation had prevented him increasing his capacity for work and that this, together with the unusual stress of wartime conditions, had combined to cause his progress to be backward instead of forward. A considerable time must elapse, he said, before he could hope to be able to perform the duties which were essential for a member of the War Cabinet. Therefore he felt he was bound, in the national interest, to ask Mr. Churchill to release him from his present responsibilities and submit his resignation to the King. Mr. Chamberlain added an expression of warm appreciation for the kindness and consideration Mr. Churchill had consistently shown him since the formation of his Government, and of his unshaken confidence that under Mr. Churchill's leadership this country and her allies and associates would succeed in overcoming the forces of barbarism which had reduced a great | part of Europe to a condition little better than slavery. He signed his letter: "Yours ever, Neville Chamberlain." MR. CHURCHILL'S LETTER. Mr. Churchill replied: "I have for some time feared that you would be •forced to relinquish the struggle. I, of all your colleagues, have admired your unshaken nerve and persevering will. The help you have given me since you ceased to be my chief has tided us through what may well prove to be the turning point of the war. You did all you could for victory. If you now tell me that you must fall out of line I cannot resist your claim. The loss of your services makes it necessary to reform our ranks and fill the gap as best we can. I shall look back on this stern year of comradeship with feelings of the deepest respect and regard for you. I trust that, having put down your pack, you will find your health and strength restored and that we shall rejoice together in better days to come." (Received October 4, 11 a.m.) LONDON, October 3. Mr. Chamberlain has been in bed in the country for several days. His doctors advised him that he must drop his job. . Captain Lyttelton becomes a Minister, though he is not a member of the House of Commons. The War Cabinet, numbering eight, will now consist of Mr. Churchill. Lord Halifax, Mr. Attlee, Mr. Greenwood, Lord Beayerbrook, Sir Kingsley Wood, Mr. Bevin, and Sir John Anderson. . , , . Lord Halifax is to be assisted in. his new duties as Leader of the House of Lords by Lord Snell, Captain of the Gentlemen-at-Arms, who will continue as deputy leader of the House of Lords.