Evening star., 1940-05-07

- until NE ourselves are able "a
deliver our blows where and when
We WILL"
Charges Over Optimism.
When Mr.. Chamberlain con-
cluded, Mr.. Attlee described the
Prime Minister'S war report Of last
Thursday as "over-optimistic and
over-complacent" and declared that
Mr.. Churchill was "far too opti-
mistic."
Il am not satisfied, despite all
the Prime Minister has said, that
the present war cabinet is an EN-
cient instrument for conducting
the war" Mr.. Attlee declared.
He said that young boys without
training had been sent to Norway"
and that experienced, older men
should have been sent. He charged
that 1t was unbelievable" that
Germany's elaborate preparations
should have gone on "for many
months" unknown to the British in
telligence service.
1T was vital for us to secure air
bases," Mr.. Attlee said. THE gov
ernment could not have realized
even after the lesson of Poland and
Finland. the Importance of the air
weapon or the vital importance of
defenses against attacks from the
air."
He described the withdrawal from
Norway as inevitable" and said
this does not alter the fact that
the operation in Southern Norway
has been a failure"
In the Norwegian campaign,
which he said was considered "of
major importance" by the nation,
the labor leader complained that
the press and radio had led to be-
lieve that everything was going
wonderfully well" and that because
Of great expectations there is great
disappointment"
The British people, he declared,
"were not satisfied that the war was
being waged with sufiicient energy,
industry or result"
1.-The Prime Minister talked about
missing buses. The country missed
all the peace buses and caught the
war bus" he said. I'VE will win the
war but we can not afford to leave
our destinies in the hands of fail
ures,' Mr.. Atlee shouted.
Everywhere Too Late.
Mr.. Attlee told the House the
people were saying that those re-
sponsible for the conduct of affairs
ARE men who have had an almost
uninterrupted career of failure.
Norway follows Czecho -Slovakia and
Poland. Everywhere the story is
too late"
This statement brought thunder
Gus opposition cheers.
Mr.. Attlee was followed by Sim
clair.
Sinclair declared that criticism
should be levied not at the Norwe-
gian withdrawal but on why We
ever got ourselves into a position in
which he had to accept defeat in
Norway"
There was nothing in the Norwe-
gian campaign to shake the ma
tion's confidence in the courage and
efficiency Of its fighting forces or of
the availability Of large resources,
the Liberal firebrand declared. but
there is something that suggests
that more foresight and energy and
stronger and more ruthless will to
victory is required"
The Liberal leader scored what he
called "ill-founded boastings of min
listers" and observed that results
count Official information given
TO the press and British Broadcast
ing System had misled these agen-
cies, he said.
Sinclair declared he did not criti-
cize any one for misleading the
enemy during the period of the
withdrawal but that the misleading
came before then.
Reminding Commons that "iron
ore is the weakest point in the Ger
man armies" Sinclair said British
action should have been taken
months ago" and not until winter
had nearly passed. when minis
tiers screwed themselves up to ac-
ton"
Time Not on Our Side"
He suggested that German air
power had proved stronger than the
government had anticipated.
Had they learned nothing from
Poland?" he asked.
Sinclair Wisecracked "ti,,oe is mt