Percy Daines (29 November 1902 – 3 March 1957) was a British insurance agent and politician. He served as a Labour and Co-operative Party Member of Parliament for East Ham North from the 1945 general election until his death, and was on the national committee of the Co-operative Party. He was known for his opposition to Communism, and was described as "one of the most powerful back-benchers in the Labour Party".

Charles Pannell Thomas Charles Pannell, Baron Pannell, PC (10 September 1902 – 23 March 1980) was a British Labour Party politician. He entered local politics in the outer London suburbs: he was a member of Walthamstow Borough Council from 1929 to 1936 ...

, "Mr. Percy Daines" (letter), ''The Times'', 13 March 1957, p. 13.

Insurance agent

Daines' early career was spent as a fireman on the railways. In 1921Speaking in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

on 21 March 1946, Daines had declared he had 18 years of experience as an insurance agent; given that he left in 1939 to fight in the war, this statement also fixes the start of his occupation. he became an

insurance Insurance is a means of protection from financial loss in which, in exchange for a fee, a party agrees to compensate another party in the event of a certain loss, damage, or injury. It is a form of risk management, primarily used to protect ...

official working for the Co-operative Insurance Society; as such he was a member of both the National Union of Railwaymen and the National Union of Distributive and Allied Workers.M. Stenton and S. Lees, "Who's Who of British MPs" Vol. IV (Harvester Press, 1981), p. 81. Daines married his wife Lilian in 1923."Decree Nisi against Mr. Percy Daines", ''The Times'', 18 October 1951, p. 2. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Daines served with the

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is the engineering arm of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces ...

."Who Was Who", A & C Black. He also became a member of Enfield Urban District Council."The Times House of Commons, 1945", p. 50. His wife was also a councillor in Enfield and later became chairman of the council."The Times House of Commons, 1950", p. 105.

East Ham North

He was chosen as Labour Party candidate for East Ham North for the 1945 general election, and was sponsored by the Co-operative Party which was the political wing of the Co-operative movement and in alliance with the Labour Party. The constituency was held by the Conservatives with a narrow majority of 533, but in the circumstances of the election Daines had no difficulty in gaining the seat with a majority of 10,559. Daines spoke in a censure debate in December 1945, arguing that workers had shown unity during the war and would show it in peace if they had a social motive instead of a profit motive."Parliament", ''The Times'', 7 December 1945, p. 7. He often contributed to debates on insurance issues, using his experience as an agent. In July 1946 he spoke in a debate on the introduction of bread rationing, claiming that the Master Bakers' Association was only opposing out of concern for their own profits."Parliament", ''The Times'', 4 July 1946, p. 8.

Assistant Whip

In December 1946, Daines was appointed an Assistant Whip."Royal Household Appointments", ''The Times'', 10 December 1946, p. 4. This was an unpaid position,"Whitaker's Almanack, 1948", p. 421. and did not prevent him from speaking in the House of Commons. He was a loyal supporter of a controversial decision to reduce the period of the National Service in the armed forces from 18 months to 12, in a speech in April 1947."Parliament", ''The Times'', 7 April 1947, p. 4. However, he resigned his post as Assistant Whip just before the summer recess of that year."Labour Party and Crisis", ''The Times'', 30 July 1947, p. 4. He remained loyal to the government when a fellow Labour MP opposed an order which allowed the Government to choose which jobs the unemployed should take; he look forward to further orders "dealing with '' rentiers'' and spivs"."Parliament", ''The Times'', 4 November 1947, p. 2.

Capital punishment

On foreign policy, Daines joined a group of left-wing Labour MPs in opposing the ending of the British mandate in

Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

without creating independent Jewish and Arab states in line with the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

partition plan."Palestine Bill Debate", ''The Times'', 8 March 1948, p. 4. He supported a moratorium on

capital punishment Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence (law), sentence ordering that an offender b ...

, and broke the whip to insist on disagreement with the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

after the Government conceded to Lords opposition;"Labour opponents", ''The Times'', 23 July 1948, p. 4. he was later to be a sponsor of Sydney Silverman's bill to abolish the death penalty."Allowances Unclaimed By Over 100 M.P.s", ''The Times'', 2 February 1956, p. 4. Daines was a witness in a 1948 libel action brought by Bessie Braddock over a story in the ''Bolton Evening News'' claiming she had "danced a jig on the floor of the House" in "a sorry degradation of democratic government"; he said that Braddock appeared to cross the floor of the House reluctantly (Braddock lost the case). He asserted that he was speaking for the Co-operative movement in April 1949 when he opposed the Agricultural Marketing Bill, which he described as '

capitalist Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their use for the purpose of obtaining profit. This socioeconomic system has developed historically through several stages and is defined by ...

- syndicalist'."Parliament", ''The Times'', 5 April 1949, p. 2. Daines supported an amendment to remove the veto of the Parliament of Northern Ireland on eventual reunification of Ireland in May 1949, against the Government whip. Philip Norton, "Dissension in the House of Commons 1945-74" (Macmillan, 1975), p. 77.

Dock strike

With a constituency near the docks, Daines was brought into the 1949 unofficial dock strike. He denounced the strike as the product of a "wicked conspiracy cleverly rigged up", making it clear that the conspiracy was the work of the Communists."Parliament", ''The Times'', 14 July 1949, p. 2. A week later he named the Communist secretary of the stevedore's union as using the power of the strike to further the claims of the Communist-controlled Canadian Seamen's Union."Parliament", ''The Times'', 22 July 1949, p. 2.

Resale price maintenance

In June 1950, Daines seconded a motion calling for an end to resale price maintenance, arguing that price maintenance stopped the consumer benefiting from reduced production."Parliament", ''The Times'', 17 June 1950, p. 9. He was an early supporter of reform of Parliamentary hours, speaking in July 1951 of how "fantastic and stupid" it was to discuss essential legislation at 7'o'clock in the morning."Parliament", ''The Times'', 4 July 1951, p. 4. He faced a determined opponent at the 1951 election in the shape of Dundas Hamilton who had been an amateur boxer and wore boxing gloves to his adoption meeting."Mr. Attlee's Own Campaign", ''The Times'', 15 October 1951, p. 2. However, Daines was re-elected with his majority reduced to 7,359."The Times House of Commons, 1951", p. 60. In October 1952 he had some negative publicity when his wife obtained a decree nisi of divorce against him on grounds of his misconduct.

Foreign policy

At the 1953 Co-operative Party congress, Daines warned delegates against getting themselves into a "Munich mentality" which was thought to have helped persuade the congress to reject a motion calling for the abolition of national service."Co-Operatives' Land Policy", ''The Times'', 6 April 1953, p. 4. He spoke in a foreign policy debate in May 1953 regretting the tendency to anti-Americanism in the Labour Party, and said that the death of Stalin had not changed the policy of the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

."Parliament", ''The Times'', 12 May 1953, p. 3. Daines was incensed when a Ministry of Defence booklet was published in February 1955 which revealed that British Communists had visited

prisoner of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of war for a ...

camps during the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

, and attempted to convert British troops to communism. He urged their prosecution, observing that men had been hanged for lesser crimes after the Second World War."Parliament", ''The Times'', 8 March 1955, p. 11.

Kim Philby

When fellow Labour MP Marcus Lipton used

Parliamentary privilege Parliamentary privilege is a legal immunity enjoyed by members of certain legislatures, in which legislators are granted protection against civil or criminal liability for actions done or statements made in the course of their legislative duties ...

to name Kim Philby as the 'third man' in the spy ring involving Guy Burgess and Donald Maclean, Daines was concerned. He intervened on a speech by Lipton in the House of Commons on 7 November 1955 to observe that what Lipton had done was "tantamount to a charge against that gentleman" and ask him for the source of his information. Lipton declined to respond, and Daines then raised a point of order insisting that Philby was unable to defend himself and that Lipton "owes it to the House to give the source of his information, or should withdraw the charge"."Parliament", ''The Times'', 8 November 1955, p. 5.

Hansard ''Hansard'' is the transcripts of parliamentary debates in Britain and many Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth countries. It is named after Thomas Curson Hansard (1776–1833), a London printer and publisher, who was the first official printe ...

, House of Commons 5th series, vol. 545, col. 1582.

Suez

Despite his opposition to the Soviet Union, Daines felt that the invasion of Suez was stopped by the ascendancy of the Soviets in the Middle East. He called on Prime Minister Anthony Eden to resign as he was discredited in America."Parliament", ''The Times'', 14 November 1956, p. 5. Daines died suddenly in hospital at Southend in March 1957, aged 54.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Daines, Percy 1902 births 1957 deaths Councillors in Greater London Labour Co-operative MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1945–1950 UK MPs 1950–1951 UK MPs 1951–1955 UK MPs 1955–1959 Royal Engineers soldiers British Army personnel of World War II