Follbwing Mr. Noel-Baker's masterly speech, the Prime Minister's weak' and
querulous reply failed to convince even his own supporters. He admitted that it was not " nice " to hear of British ships being bombed, that we had protested to General Franco, but he held that to take any action at all would be contrary to our non-intervention policy. ." If you do not want to protect the Union Jack, they (the Spaniards) will do it for you." said Mr. Noel-Baker in demanding that anti-aircraft guns should be taken off the non-intervention list. Sir Archibald Sinclair very pointedly suggested that if the Anglo-Italian Agreement rested upon any real basis of understanding, the Italian Government should be asked, and could be expected to agree, to join us in a joint protest against these deliberate attacks upon British ships. Mr. Butler was fortunate in being able to report the progress of the Non-Intervention Committee and thus to gloss over the uncomfortable fact that the Government are not going to lift a finger to protect legitimate British trade.
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