The Week in Parliament Our Parliamentary Correspondent writes: So far,
the House has shown a remarkably quiet demeanour over Tientsin. The Prime Minister's statement, on Monday, was listened to in silence, and there were practically no supplementaries. On Tuesday, no questions were put to him at all. But on Wednesday the House was much more restive. No one under-estimates the gravity of the situation, but quite a number of people are anxious as to the resolu- tion of the Government. Mr. Chamberlain's statement, in reply to Mr. Eden, on Monday, that steps would be taken to ensure food reaching the besieged Concession was re- assuring, though his qualifications on Wednesday put it in a different light. In the Lobby this week, the possibility of an Eastern Munich has been frankly discussed. That this time it is Japan which is playing the Axis hand is taken for granted. Europe is still regarded as the chief danger spot, if only because most people believe that the Govern- ment will refuse to become embroiled, whatever the cost, in an eastern conflict just at this time. July, August or September have been variously prophesied as the month of crisis. Surrender is held to be the only alternative to war. It is hardly surprising that debates have lacked all sense of reality, and that an air of fatalism oppresses everyone. * *
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