On Thursday, August 20th, Mr. MacDonald and Mr. Snowden, who
had already had conversations with the Unionist and Liberal leaders, explained to the Executive of the Labour Party and the leaders of the T.U.C. the dire state of our finances and the necessity for retrench- ment, roughly following many of the recommendations of the Unemployment Insurance Report and the May Economy Report. The result was that they found no support, but indications of fierce opposition. On Friday, the cleavage within the Cabinet had become unbridgeable, but there was no time for the ordinary procedure to be followed. The Unionist and Liberal leaders remained at hand to help, and in frequent communication with the • Prime Minister. On Saturday, the King came up from Scotland to take the valuable part that no one else could take. On Sunday, he had interviews with all the leaders, and the Cabinet, as on Saturday, was in almost continuous session. On Monday, the country learnt to its satisfaction that "the Prime Minister tendered to His Majesty the resignation of the Ministry which was accepted by His Majesty, who entrusted Mr. Ramsay MacDonald with the task of forming a National Government on a comprehen- sive basis for the purpose of meeting the present financial emergency."
