It was, perhaps, to be expected that this Motion would
at once be taken as a challenge to the Prime Minister's personal prestige. It is a sad commentary on the changes which Parliament has undergone during the last five years that policy is so closely bound up with a personality. Whatever Lord Halifax might have said in the House of Lords the other day, the appeasement policy was considered the personal policy of Mr. Chamberlain, and any criticisms of the Govern- ment based on that are regarded as personal attacks. Dis- cussion increasingly centres around the Prime Minister, and the normal classification in the House these days is pro- and anti-Chamberlain. Personal loyalty to the leader of their Party has so far kept many of the Tory Members quiet, and, no doubt, they will continue to be patient during the coming weeks while the Government reviews, considers and consults. The suggestion that a broader-based National Government should be formed is rejected on the grounds that it would mean the retirement of Mr. Chamberlain. It is said that any measures of national service involving compulsion would at once bring Labour into open and violent opposition. Mr. Chamberlain certainly convinced many of those who heard him at Tuesday's dinner that this is regarded as of para- mount importance in any consideration of our defence needs.
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