4 NOVEMBER 1938, Page 3

Wednesday's debate on the bringing into force of the Anglo-Italian

Agreement was an altogether livelier affair. The Prime Minister made the best of a case which was not easy to argue by representing this latest move as a part of the general policy of European appeasement. The Opposition parties, through the mouths of Mr. Greenwood and Mr. Wilfrid Roberts, harped disagreeably upon the continued presence in Spain of Italian and German pilots and tech- nicians, and of large numbers of Italian troops. The House then filled up to hear Mr. Eden deliver one of the most striking speeches he has made in recent years. As a Parlia- mentary orator he seems to have gained in power since he resigned his office. He has the rare gift of being able to drive his points home in the most moderate language and he achieves pungency without the use of epithets.

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