The Week in Parliament
Our Parliamentary Correspondent writes: Mr. Chamberlain himself has set a fine example of sacrifice and restraint. Unfortunately the same cannot be said of some of his followers in the House of Commons. They are at no pains to hide their chagrin and seize every opportunity of making their attitude known. No douot it was fitting and proper that when Mr. Chamberlain took his seat on Monday he should be accorded an ovation from the back benches. But one felt that the demonstrators might at least have had the fairness to receive the new Prime Minister with equal enthusiasm. After all, Mr. Churchill himself was not responsible for the change. He had done everything possible to support his former chief, and had accepted his full share of responsibility for the mistakes of the Norwegian campaign. He was surely entitled to a less grudging welcome than he actually received. This surly temper found expression in the speech of Sir Irving Albery, who expressed "strong resentment against the action of certain Privy Coun- cillors, and others who followed them, in turning what should have been a debate on the conduct of affairs in Norway into a political manoeuvre." Sir Irving, and those who think like him, do not seem to recognise that the leaders of the rev& last week—whether they were right or wrong—genuinel5 believed that a drastic change was imperative in the national interest. It took no little courage for the younger men especially to act as they did, and there is no good reason why they should be subjected to these splenetic reproaches.
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