Oddly enough on this occasion it appeared to Sir Herbert
Williams a matter of supreme importance not to allow to Mr. Lees Smith unchallenged the right to put questions to the Prime Minister relating to the business of the House. Logically there was something to be said for his objection, since the late Opposition, now so fully represented in the Government, would seem to have no automatic right to assume for its proxinte accessit the privileges of an Opposition leader. But to the majority of members the whole question seemed incredibly academic and even paltry in the shadow of the grim events coming through relentlessly on the tape. Some interest, how- ever, attached to the Speaker's ruling that ex-Ministers of all parties should be entitled to sit on the Front Opposition Bench. If full advantage is taken of that privilege, this bench will become a museum shelf of considerable antiquarian interest, with Georgian, Edwardian, and even Victorian exhibits. But more probably, as such different authorities as Mr. Speaker and Mr. Aneurin Bevan seemed to anticipate, an Opposition may disclose itself in the course of the proceedings of the House, and it may have a useful function to perform.
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