The Opposition Leaders The Cabinet Committee of five met on
Thursday, August 13th and decided that the next Budget must be balanced and that there must be equal sacrifice and effort by every section of the community. They had discussed the position with the leading bankers. The Prime Minister also saw Mr. Baldwin, Mr. Chamberlain and Sir Herbert Samuel who had spontaneously interrupted their holidays and made long journeys to London so that Mr. MacDonald might consult them if he thought fit. The Opposition leaders, it seems, were told that there must be fresh taxation ; they were not given particulars of the extent to which the Cabinet was prepared to act on the advice of Sir George May's Committee. It was hinted that Parliament would be summoned to meet in September and that a new Budget and an Economy Bill would be laid before the House of Commons,
