The New , Parliament Our Parliamentary correspondent writes : Once again
a new Parliament opened with an appeal from Mr. Speaker to Members to shorten their speeches. It is not the back-benchers that are the worst offenders, but the ex-Cabinet .MinisterS., on the Government side of the House. It is they , who " kill " the full-dress debates. They appear to think that they have a prescriptive right to take part in all of them and they are convinced that they cannot state fully their position in under an hour. Sir Austen Chamberlain is a welcOme exception. Ho only speaks when he really has something to say and he is never long-winded. The result is that he is listened to with greater attention than anyone except the Big Three—the Prime Minister; the Foreign Secretary and the Chancellor of the Exchequer. But the other ex- Ministers have an inexhaustible verbosity. Even Mr. Churchill, who is still the biggest draw in the House, speaks' too often and at too great a length. • * * •
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