Armaments and foreign policy are so closely linked in the
mind of the average member that Tuesday's debate on foreign affairs was for the most part a continuation of the discussion on the Defence Loans Bill. This was illustrated by a lively exchange of nautical metaphors between Lord Cranborne and Mr. Attlee. The Under-Secretary compared the Oppo- sition to a seaman who, when a storm is blowing up, refuses to help the helmsman shorten sail because he has always disapproved of the course he was steering. (Query—Is it the helmsman's job to shorten sail ?) What would the pas- sengers think ? Mr. Attlee interjected that the noble lord was rowing the boat on to the rocks. Various honourable members retorted that it was a sailing boat, but the precise nature of the vessel, the respective duties of the crew and the purpose of the voyage were never satisfactorily determined.
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