Mr. Asquith then said :— " The dissolution of Parliament
is in this country one of the prerogatives of the Crown. It is not a mere feudal survival, but it is part, and I think a useful part, of our constitutional system, for which there is no counterpart in any other country, such, for instance, as the United States of America. It does not mean that the Crown should act arbitrarily and without the advice of responsible Ministers, but it does mean that the Crown is not bound to take the advice of a particular Minister to put its subjects to the tumult and turmoil of a series of General Elections so long as it can find other Ministers who are prepared to give it a trial. The notion that a Minister—a Minister who cannot command a majority in the House of Commons, but who is in a minority of 31 per cent. —the notion that a Minister in those circumstances is invested with the right to demand a dissolution is as subversive of constitutional usage as it would, in my opinion, be pernicious to the general and paramount interests of the nation at large."
So it is calculated that, on the defeat of a Labour Ministry, the King would not dissolve Parliament, but would send for Mr. Asquith, who would form a purely Liberal Administration, which would be supported, faute de mieux, by the Conservatives.
