Guildhall Speech by Llyod George
Introduction from Chronology
Lloyd George gives speech at the Guildhall Banquet in London saying that
"We have murder by the throat, we had to reorganise the police. When
the Government was ready we struck the terrorists and
now the terrorists are complaining of terror."
More Detail
He also
says that “If it is war, they [IRA] cannot complain if we apply some of the
rules of war. In war, if men come in civilian clothing behind your lines, armed
with murderous weapons, intending to use them … in war they are dealt with
summarily … If it is war, the rules of war must apply”.
Of
course, despite being urged to do so by his own military, Llyod George and the
British government had consistently refused to declare war against the IRA – see, for
example, Apr-30-20/1.
Pakenham
notes that when this speech was made and a similar one on October 9th
(See Oct-09-20/1) “the atrocities at Balbriggan, Trim and Mallow, for instance,
were still fresh in English minds, and it was an open question whether the
British Government were going to stop or encourage such things. Llyod George left it in doubt no longer …
here for the first time the weight of a British Government comes down on the
side of terrorism by the police”.
The [London] Times commented “At the Guildhall, the Prime Minister virtually
committed himself to a war upon large sections of the Irish people”.
Comment
In Easter
1916 when the Irish Volunteers and the Irish Citizens Army did wear military
uniforms (and took up stationary positions), their prisoners were not treated
as per the rules of war at the time.
Instead, a number of prisoners were summarily executed.