AT WESTMINSTER
THE knowledge that in any event we are now in the last full year of the present Parliament has been reflected in the political atmosphere this week. There has been a heightening of party feeling, and an increased realisation that the day of reckoning approaches. Last Friday's business was an exception. The National Theatre Bill, urbanely moved by Mr. Glenvil Hall, was supported in a charming and civilised speech by Mr. Oliver Lyttelton. As one who has done much for the theatre, he welcomed what he described as " a felicitous combination of private enterprise, municipal generosity, and State aid." Most members shared his horror at the expression " cultural centre."
But the major questions of the week, Palestine and Rent Control, were discussed in a more belligerent mood—Mr. Aneurin` Bevan is a great orator. But the House of Commons does not offer many opportunities for oratory. The most frequent of such opportunities is a winding-up speech before a Division. But Mr. Bevan elected to move the Second Reading of the Landlord and Tenant (Rent Control) Bill himself, and to leave the wind-up to the Parliamentary Secretary. Perhaps for this reason he was less effective than usual, and was subjected to a devastating reply by Mr. Walter Elliot. Mr. Elliot has a profound knowledge of the subject, and the House was treated to the unusual spectacle of a harassed Mr. Bevan being brought to his feet again and again in an attempt to defend himself against the steady flow of Mr. Elliot's reasoning.
* * * *
Earlier in the day a most unexpected question gave an opening for the quick wit of Mr. Walter Fletcher, the Member for Bury. Questions had been asked about desecration of cemeteries in Germany, and Mr. Mayhew, the Under Secretary at the Foreign Office, said that one German stonemason had been convicted of this despicable offence, and fined "one hundred gravestones." With disarming modesty Mr. Fletcher asked if they were regarded as a hard currency.
* * * *
The Palestine Debate was the big event of the week. Mr. Bevin, who opened for the Government, has none of the parliamentary tricks which give ease and colour to a long statement. And his reading of a speech is obvious reading, without any attempt to give the impression of merely referring to notes. One Member remarked that he had an amazing gift of making even this subject seem dull, and several occupants of the Government Front Bench and of other parts of the House found it easier to follow him with closed eyes. His historical survey of this sad and tangled story was clear as an analysis, but many Members behind him obviously agreed with Mr. Churchill's opening remark that Mr. Bevin's speech led to no definite conclusions as to what British policy should be.
* * * *
Mr. Churchill has been in touch with Palestine affairs since the beginning of its British connection. His deep feeling on the subject wakes obvious echoes on the Government side, and Mr. Crossman and other Socialist Members applauded many of his points. Having made it clear that in general he supported the intention if not the methods of Mr. Bevin's general foreign policy, he attacked his handling of Palestine as " the quintessence of maladress." Rarely has he displayed more effectively his unique mixture of styles— sonorous oratory studded with informal observations. An example of the latter was when Mr. Creech Jones rose from rather far down the Treasury Bench to interrupt him. His acceptance of this with the, single word " Hello " convulsed the House. He ended at his gravest, with a warning of the sombre march of events in the world.
• *
Of the back-bench speeches Mr. Crossman's, an able but undis- guisedly partisan statement of the Palestine case, stood out. The wind-up speeches, by Mr. Oliver Stanley and the Prime Minister, were worthy of the occasion, and the division, giving the Govern- ment a majority of only 9o, gratified one side of the House as much as it depressed most of the other. But it should be remembered that while the Conservatives had had a three-line whip the Government Whips had contented themselves with two lines. J. B-C.
Previous page
