Fifth-Column Italians
The task of rounding up potential enemy agents becomes an ever larger and more complicated one, and experience in other countries has shown that it must be performed with thoroughness. Last week the police were busy in looking after prominent members of the British Union of Fascists, as well as suspicious foreigners who had come over in the general exodus from Holland and Belgium. This week the presence of thousands of Italians in our midst has given the police a new problem. London and other cities have a considerable Italian population, consisting of people who have made them- selves at home in Britain and have little sympathy with Fascism. They have no quarrel with us, nor we with them. Yet amongst them undoubtedly are agents of the Fascist regime and possible Fifth Columnists. This is not the time for taking risks in mistaken generosity. The police have the duty of' interview- ing all aliens of Italian origin, and already many who have had close associations with Italy or belong to Fascist organisations have been interned. But the task of the police in this country is an easy one compared with that of the police in Cairo, where it has been thought necessary to round up all Italians and close Italian-controlled businesses. The towns of northern Egypt include an immense cosmopolitan population of mixed origin and doubtful sympathies, and there will be many opportunities for Fifth Column activities unless the Egyptian authorities unsparingly nip them in the bud.
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