The Week in Parliament Our Parliamentary Correspondent writes : Seldom
has the cleavage between the Government and the Opposition been so plainly revealed as in the debate on the Italian Agreement. The difference between parties nowadays lies almost entirely in their contrasting attitudes towards the dictators. Mr. Chamberlain ended his speech with an unqualified tribute to the achievements of the "new Italy" under the stimulus of the personality of Signor Mussolini. It was inevitable that such an eulogium pronounced on such an occasion should be the subject of bitter criticism. Mr. Morrison was not slow to comment on the fact that the Fascist regime evidently commanded the approval and respect of the Prime Minister and the leader of the Conservative Party. The Government has now adopted a policy of letting bygones be bygones and, if possible, making friends with the totalitarian States. Such a course may be expedient, but Ministers will be making a grave blunder if they allow it to be supposed that they have some sneaking sympathy with totalitarian methods and aims. Some of them are certainly in danger of creating this impression.
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