20 DECEMBER 1963, Page 11

Spectator's Notebook

THERE was irony in almost every aspect of Wednes- day's ceremony when the statue of David Lloyd George was unveiled in the House of Commons. LI.G., after all, was a Commoner who became an Earl; his statue was unveiled by an Earl who became a Consimoner. More than half a century has passed since LI.G.'s great onslaught on the landed peerage; his statue was unveiled by a Prime Minister drawn from the. landed peerage. LI.G. broke Asquith and, in doing so, broke the Liberal Party:, looking down from his plinth on Wednesday, he could not help observing that what was left of the Liberal Party was led again, by Asquith's kith and kin. Would he have enjoyed the joke? If he had been in the mood which the statue has caught, surely he would, and a decorous ceremony would have ended in uproar.. I do not think he would have let the opportunity slip by.