Word: backbenches
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...George Hees led a second palace revolt. Going to Diefenbaker's Ottawa home, Hees asked him face to face to resign for the good of Canada and the party. Stung to tears, Diefenbaker refused, and set out to rally his strength. Loyal supporters whipped up the prairie-province backbench M.P.s, and there were cheers as Diefenbaker entered the House of Commons to answer no-confidence motions brought by the opposition Liberals of Lester B. Pearson and the funny-money Social Crediters. In a fighting speech, Diefenbaker lashed the Liberals and tried to get the Social Crediters to change their...
Faced with five by-elections this month and the highest unemployment rate (2.1%) in three years, impatient Tories have been muttering that line from that old backbench ditty: "Stop dawdling, Maudling." In his first major House of Commons speech since he succeeded Selwyn Lloyd as Chancellor of the Exchequer four months ago, Reginald Maudling last week presented a long-awaited "policy of expansion" that surprised even the most skeptical Tories with its boldness. When he had finished, he left no doubt that the economy was to dawdle no more...
National Disaster. Backbench Tories hooted with cries of "Shame!" Conservative M.P. Anthony Fell.* a former New Zealand sheep farmer, leaped to his feet, rudely accused Macmillan of making "a shocking statement, full of political doubletalk." When Macmillan rose magisterially to protest, Fell yelled, "No! I can be told to sit down by Mr. Speaker, but I cannot be told to sit down by the Prime Minister," went on to call Macmillan a "national disaster" and urge him to resign...
Macmillan, about to leave for his talks with Eisenhower, was in a confident, combative mood. Previously he had been guardedly correct about Suez; now, to thundering Tory backbench cheers, he declared: "I was one of Sir Anthony Eden's main supporters in his Suez policy. I am proud of it." He was "surprised" that Gaitskell should bring up the subject: "If everybody were to see again those hysterical broadcasts of his, they would have a shock." Sarcastically he taunted: "The Opposition's chief idea in a difficulty is to run away from it. The ostrich...
After Suez. Not all Britons objected. Many recognized that in the Arab countries, Britain and France are currently so discredited that only the U.S. can save positions essential to all of them (a quite different thesis from the angry Tory backbench contention that U.S. interests are trying to drive the British out of the Middle East). They understood that the alliance stands as firm as ever in the geographical limits of its primary purpose-the defense of Europe-and that Britain remains the U.S.'s closest friend by blood, interests and sentiment. This fact was underlined last week when...