The Week in Parliament Out Political Correspondent writes : Mr.
Eden, in his first speech in the House of Commons as Foreign Secretary, hardly did himself justice. Admittedly he had a most difficult task, for he had no decision on oil sanctions to defend, nor new line of policy to announce, and was -clearly circumscribed by an elaborate Cabinet memoran- dum an what he must say on Foreign Policy as a whole. In such circumstances it was impossible for him to score a Parliamentary triumph, but he need not have kept so closely to his notes, particularly when, as in his later passages, he was uttering little more than platitudes. His speech reads well in Mansard, but for the House of Commons it sounded too much like an essay on foreign affairs. The debate in consequence lacked incisiveness, and with the exception of Mr. Boothby, who is perhaps the best speaker among the younger back-benchers, none of the later participants made any notable contribution.
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