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To adapt Dr. Johnson's words on Goldsmith, Mr. Churchill touches no debate that he does not transform. His meditations, inconclusive though they were, on the possibility—or impossibility —of a coalition set the Budget debate for a space in an intriguing new perspective. They suddenly lifted it from the financial and economic to the political plane, and Mr. Churchill is always happier there. He has no more relish for the " damned dots " than his father had. He must be interested himself and interesting to others. Dullness is the deadly sin. However, it is not suggested for a moment that these meditations were merely designed to adorn a speech. More than once since the election he has shown how troubled he is at the possible calamitous consequences of the stalemate both on Government and the national fortunes. His remarks on Monday disclose that this fear is accompanied by a still more disturbing one—the fear that the ideological conflict may have produced a permanent deadlock. Sir Stafford Cripps, who, by the way, wound up the debate with an air of pugnacious confi- dence that all is going well, saw " a vague sort of suggestion " for a coalition in Mr. Churchill's speech. Even that seemed to be reading too much into it, and Sir Stafford was evidently aware of it, for he confessed to not having quite understood Mr. Churchill.
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