Thomas Inskip made a reassuring statement concerning the guns near Gibraltar.
"No guns have been mounted in the Bay of Algeciras which can, in the circumstances, be regarded' as constituting any threat to Gibraltar," he declared. "A battery of four large howitzers was mounted overlooking the Straits. Two in fact, have been removed. These howitzers were in the possession of the Spanish Government before the outbreak of the civil war, and we are advised that if they had been intended as a threat to Gibraltar they would have been differently disposed. A howitzer is not a seaward gun.
"The remainder of the guns in the Bay of Algeciras. neither in numbers nor in size, threaten Gibraltar.
Nor are they sighted for that purpose. In all cases, both the larger calibre and secondary guns are out. powered b; article: In the circumstance of the Spanish civil war, the presence of these guns is quite intelligible. It is not ne sary to imagine or invent any sinister intention. The Government thinks there is no reason fo Sir Thomas also reviewed the position at Ceuta which, he said, had always been heavily armed.
It could not be said the guns there were a threat to Gibraltar or its shipping. He hoped the facts he had given the House would dispose of the somewhat unnecessarily alarmist rumours in circulation.
Sir Thomas defended the organization of the Committee.of Imperial Defence against criticisms that it provided insufficiently flexible machinery for dealing with Britain's present defence problems.
He suggested that members had a wrong idea of its constitution, and stated that the Prime Minister himself was the only permanent member of the Committee and that in 1035, over 500 different persons soldiers, sailors, airmen, industrial-economists and politicians were summoned to the Committee for one purpose or another.
The Labour Party intend to initiate a debate on foreign affairs, especially on the Spanish and Far Eastern situations, before the adjournment of the House for summer recess on Friday.—Reuter,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.