THE LORDS, too, have been having their fun. A small
band of stalwart peers has for long been concerned about the• plight of British subjects expelled from Egypt after the Suez ultimatum. This in itself is certainly a worthy cause, and the charitable attitude of Lord Salisbury and his friends to those who were damaged by Suez does them credit,,even though it is rather selective— they do not seem to have ever been very worried about those who lost their lives in the bombing, The trouble is that the case for asking the Govern- ment to give more help to those expelled from Egypt is based upon one of the reasons that the Government gave for its ultimatum and action— 'in order to protect British lives and interests. Since easily the worst way of protecting British lives and interests is to bomb the country in which up till then they were living safely and peace' fully, that particular excuse for Suez has always been the most implausible of the lot. But as the protagonists of the refugees are nearly all Suez men they cannot point this out and have to remain saddled with an absurd fiction. Perhaps it was the burden of maintaining this elaborate farce that led the Lord Chancellor to refuse to give way t° Lord Salisbury on the unjust grounds that 'the Noble Marquess has interrupted almost every speaker this afternoon,' and led Lord SalisburY to say, when the Lord Chancellor did give Way n few seconds later, 'it is too late now.'
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