* * It is widely felt that the key to
the situation is held by the Labour leaders. They cannot form a Government by them- selves. The question is whether they will join with anyone else. It certainly seemed from Mr. Attlee's speech that they were becoming less exclusive, and there were Members in all parts of the House who welcomed his peroration when he declared that to win the war we wanted different people at the helm from those who led us into it. The issue may be decided at the Labour Party Conference in a few days' time. On the whole, the expectation appears to be that the extremists will be defeated and that Labour participation in some future War Government will not be made impossible. It may well be that the events of recent weeks and the prospect of some fresh act of German aggression will strengthen the hands of the Party Executive and enable them to defeat the advocates of non-co-operation. Given a free hand to take such action as they think fit and to make their own terms, Mr. Attlee and his colleagues on the front Opposition bench may be able to exercise very considerable influence in determining the character and composition of any new Ministry which may emerge from the strains and stresses of these anxious days.
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