Ismail
5th January 2010, 11:04
Thought it'd be of some interest.
http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/
Interesting bit noted, from a 1942 speech by the Earl of Glasgow:
...the Prime Minister has told us that in that event we shall have to fight, as indeed we shall fight, on the beaches and in the streets. In the event of an attempted storming of a town, what are factory workers going to do? Are they supposed to stay put and go on with their work, or are they to be expected to wait in the hope that the Home Guards and the military will be able to stop the enemy getting to their gates? As things are at present I visualize that on the approach of the enemy crowds of unarmed men and women, as the noble Earl has said, would go out and clutter up the streets, and generally act in a way which would tend to prevent the soldiers coming to help them. The only alternative would be to have them evacuated beforehand. What a waste of good fighting material!
No country knows more about invasion than Soviet Russia, and I have it on the highest authority that since October 1, 452 1941, all factory workers in Russia have had a hundred hours' training in the use of rifles, machine-guns and hand grenades, and also, of course, in tactics. When the time comes all factory units go into action. They wear no uniform. I should like to see the same training carried out in this country. Each factory should have its armoury, stocked with rifles, if possible, and other equipment.Heh.
Dec. 1989 speech by MP William Waldegrave:
It is clear that we have more Trotskyites in our Parliament than they do in Poland or elsewhere in eastern Europe. It is wonderful to hear the argument between the Trotskyites and the Stalinites. It is like hearing the man arguing against someone who says that the earth is flat. The Trotskyite proves marvellously that the earth is not flat at all. Not at all, it is clearly a large cheese floating in a bowl of stewed prunes. It is really wonderful to listen to the lunacy of it all.Also from that same month:
Mr. Dave Nellist: "The Minister will realise that, as I am opening the next section of the debate in 10 minutes' time, I am not allowed to speak in this section, but I can ask him a question. He referred disparagingly to those who, over the years, have preferred the Leftist opposition led by Leon Trotsky to the repressive element led by Stalin. Does he recogise that it was Stalin's agents who, nearly 50 years ago, murdered Trotsky for leading that opposition?
When, about 10 days ago, I was fortunate enough to spend just short of two days in East Berlin and Leipzig, the young people whom I met were keen to bring about anti-corruption committees, free trade unions, free political parties, freedom of assembly and a free press. They were keen to retain public ownership rather than giving away what the East German economy had built up —albeit with the bureaucratic mismanagement and totalitarianism that had developed over the past 40 years. They were far more interested in listening to the ideas of the Left opposition than in listening to those of capitalists."
Mr. Waldegrave: "... I have a suspicion—which I believe may be shared by the hon. Member for Walsall, South—that the ideas of Leon Trotsky will not ultimately win the competition; but who am I to say? It will be for the people of Czechoslovakia and East Germany to decide. It may well be that, as the hon. Member for Coventry, South-East suggests, the Stalinists have been wholly overthrown in eastern Europe by Trotskyite groups. The people whom I saw in Wenceslaus square did not look like Trotskyites to me, but perhaps they were good at disguising themselves."
Mr. Waldegrave: "I will give way to the hon. Gentleman, who is not a Trotskyite."
Mr. Anderson: "Before I enter into the Stalinist-Trotskyite controversy, may I ask the Minister again whether we are talking about new money or money from the existing ODA vote?"March 1945:
"Mr. Price asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he has yet received a request for the recognition of the Albanian Government, set up in Tirana under General Enver Hoxha; and whether it is proposed to invite this government to send a representative to the Conference at San Francisco."
Mr. Eden: "His Majesty's Government have recently received such a request. They consider, however, that the situation in Albania is at present too obscure to justify recognition of the present administration as a Government. The answer to the second part of the Question is 'No, Sir.'"
Mr. Price: "Do we recognise any authority, de facto, in Albania now?"
Mr. Eden: "A British Military Mission is shortly to arrive in Albania which will keep His Majesty's Government informed."
Sir Herbert Williams: "Can my right hon. Friend pronounce the name of the General [Enver Hoxha] mentioned in the Question?"
Mr. Eden: "I would be too modest to make the attempt."
Mr. J.J. Davidson: "In view of the obscure position in Albania, would the right hon. Gentleman consider sending a Parliamentary delegation?"November 1992:
Earl Russell: "This notion of having control over one's own economic destiny gives me some problems. In fact, since the war I can think of only one country that has had control over its economic destiny. That country is Albania, where Mr. Hoxha was, I believe, the only world statesman I have ever come across who actually agreed with Plato that nothing more disastrous can happen to a state than to have a large export trade. I do not believe that Mr. Hoxha's example suggests that it is really a good idea to follow it."
http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/
Interesting bit noted, from a 1942 speech by the Earl of Glasgow:
...the Prime Minister has told us that in that event we shall have to fight, as indeed we shall fight, on the beaches and in the streets. In the event of an attempted storming of a town, what are factory workers going to do? Are they supposed to stay put and go on with their work, or are they to be expected to wait in the hope that the Home Guards and the military will be able to stop the enemy getting to their gates? As things are at present I visualize that on the approach of the enemy crowds of unarmed men and women, as the noble Earl has said, would go out and clutter up the streets, and generally act in a way which would tend to prevent the soldiers coming to help them. The only alternative would be to have them evacuated beforehand. What a waste of good fighting material!
No country knows more about invasion than Soviet Russia, and I have it on the highest authority that since October 1, 452 1941, all factory workers in Russia have had a hundred hours' training in the use of rifles, machine-guns and hand grenades, and also, of course, in tactics. When the time comes all factory units go into action. They wear no uniform. I should like to see the same training carried out in this country. Each factory should have its armoury, stocked with rifles, if possible, and other equipment.Heh.
Dec. 1989 speech by MP William Waldegrave:
It is clear that we have more Trotskyites in our Parliament than they do in Poland or elsewhere in eastern Europe. It is wonderful to hear the argument between the Trotskyites and the Stalinites. It is like hearing the man arguing against someone who says that the earth is flat. The Trotskyite proves marvellously that the earth is not flat at all. Not at all, it is clearly a large cheese floating in a bowl of stewed prunes. It is really wonderful to listen to the lunacy of it all.Also from that same month:
Mr. Dave Nellist: "The Minister will realise that, as I am opening the next section of the debate in 10 minutes' time, I am not allowed to speak in this section, but I can ask him a question. He referred disparagingly to those who, over the years, have preferred the Leftist opposition led by Leon Trotsky to the repressive element led by Stalin. Does he recogise that it was Stalin's agents who, nearly 50 years ago, murdered Trotsky for leading that opposition?
When, about 10 days ago, I was fortunate enough to spend just short of two days in East Berlin and Leipzig, the young people whom I met were keen to bring about anti-corruption committees, free trade unions, free political parties, freedom of assembly and a free press. They were keen to retain public ownership rather than giving away what the East German economy had built up —albeit with the bureaucratic mismanagement and totalitarianism that had developed over the past 40 years. They were far more interested in listening to the ideas of the Left opposition than in listening to those of capitalists."
Mr. Waldegrave: "... I have a suspicion—which I believe may be shared by the hon. Member for Walsall, South—that the ideas of Leon Trotsky will not ultimately win the competition; but who am I to say? It will be for the people of Czechoslovakia and East Germany to decide. It may well be that, as the hon. Member for Coventry, South-East suggests, the Stalinists have been wholly overthrown in eastern Europe by Trotskyite groups. The people whom I saw in Wenceslaus square did not look like Trotskyites to me, but perhaps they were good at disguising themselves."
Mr. Waldegrave: "I will give way to the hon. Gentleman, who is not a Trotskyite."
Mr. Anderson: "Before I enter into the Stalinist-Trotskyite controversy, may I ask the Minister again whether we are talking about new money or money from the existing ODA vote?"March 1945:
"Mr. Price asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he has yet received a request for the recognition of the Albanian Government, set up in Tirana under General Enver Hoxha; and whether it is proposed to invite this government to send a representative to the Conference at San Francisco."
Mr. Eden: "His Majesty's Government have recently received such a request. They consider, however, that the situation in Albania is at present too obscure to justify recognition of the present administration as a Government. The answer to the second part of the Question is 'No, Sir.'"
Mr. Price: "Do we recognise any authority, de facto, in Albania now?"
Mr. Eden: "A British Military Mission is shortly to arrive in Albania which will keep His Majesty's Government informed."
Sir Herbert Williams: "Can my right hon. Friend pronounce the name of the General [Enver Hoxha] mentioned in the Question?"
Mr. Eden: "I would be too modest to make the attempt."
Mr. J.J. Davidson: "In view of the obscure position in Albania, would the right hon. Gentleman consider sending a Parliamentary delegation?"November 1992:
Earl Russell: "This notion of having control over one's own economic destiny gives me some problems. In fact, since the war I can think of only one country that has had control over its economic destiny. That country is Albania, where Mr. Hoxha was, I believe, the only world statesman I have ever come across who actually agreed with Plato that nothing more disastrous can happen to a state than to have a large export trade. I do not believe that Mr. Hoxha's example suggests that it is really a good idea to follow it."