Lives in Cricket No 15 - Michael Falcon

The NFU were also active and Falcon replied to a letter from their Norfolk branch which had asked for his support. Although he was broadly sympathetic to their views, he stated that to get agreement between farmers and farm labourers would not be easy, and that he must represent the labourers as well as their employers. The NFU were not entirely impressed by his reply, but he did at least proffer one which was more than can be said of his fellow Norfolk MPs. The hostility of the farmers was a recurring theme in Falcon’s political career. In November 1919, Captain Falcon spoke at North Walsham, saying that Norfolk faced a serious set of problems but that he remained optimistic. He stressed, not for the only time, the need for the country to grow as much food as possible and hoped that farm labourers would receive their due rewards. He was then asked, again not for the only time, why, when he had claimed to be against conscription early in the year, he had voted for it in the recent Army Bill. He explained that he had changed his mind because of the need to station troops in India and Egypt and the need to keep a sizeable force on the Continent to keep Germany in line. He stated that the need for troops should drop until May 1920, by when there should be an army of 500,000, all of them volunteers. Not long after this meeting, Falcon spoke at Old Catton and Drayton, making his usual plea for a fair balance between the farmers and their labourers. He lamented the increase in the National Debt, saying that there was a need for increased industrial production and hoping that strike action would be reduced by recent legislation; he did, however, concede that the working man had a right to withhold his labour if he so wished. Defending his decision to vote against the coalition government in August 1920, Falcon said that he disapproved of the way it was spending money. Again he conceded the value of trade unions but cautioned strongly against the dangers of socialism. In the House of Commons, Falcon asked the Attorney General if he was aware that, due to increases in the cost of living and in taxation, judges were finding it difficult to carry out social duties required by their position. The Attorney General agreed, saying that the matter was of great importance and would be dealt with shortly. Falcon also spoke on the predicament of many ex-officers and men who would soon finish their training in agriculture in 46 At Westminster