31 MAY 1940, Page 3

The Week in Parliament

Our Parliamentary Correspondent writes: Under the threatening shadow of events abroad our debates have an air of unreality. We seem to be living in the pages of Thomas Hardy's Dynasts, our own part being restricted to that of chorus. Only when the Prime Minister makes a statement does the scene really come alive. On Tuesday when he spoke of the Belgian surrender he was calm, steadfast, without illu- sion—master of himself and of his hearers. Indeed, in these times of disaster we have achieved a leadership and a unity which, if it had been obtained earlier, might have prevented any disaster from happening. He, like Mr. Duff Cooper in his broadcast the same night, was remarkably restrained in his reference to the Belgian action. And certainly the strokes of fate cannot be met by votes of censure. History will judge these events, and we must devote our best efforts to shaping the course of the future.