EDEN'S FUTURE

Auckland Star, Volume LXXV, Issue 80, 4 April 1944, Page 5

EDEN'S FUTURE

MOVE DEEMED LIKELY Beaverbrook's Interest In Foreign Office N.Z.P.A. Special Correspondent Rec. 10.30 a.m. LONDON, April 3. There are persistent reports that Mr. Anthony Eden is to leave the Foreign Office. The likelihood of this move has been discussed during the past week and the political correspondent of the Observer says that Government changes, which were almost settled when the confidence crisis was thrust on Parliament, are likely to be temporarily postponed. Mr. Eden is both Foreign Secretary and Leader of the House of Commons, and there have been frequent comments that he cannot continue to fill both positions satisfactorily. The political correspondent of the Manchester Guardian reported that Mr. Eden recently "soothed" the Conservative members committee. "They have been upset," the correspondent states, "because they believe we are without a clear, strong foreign policy and argue that Mr. Eden is not the man to provide it. They concede the necessity for cooperation with Russia if peace is to be maintained in Europe, but consider that a firm, clearly conceived British foreign policy is just as essential. Indeed, they hold that the cause of British-Russian cooperation will itself be better served by a firm than by a weak hand-to-mouth British foreign policy." The correspondent asks whether Lord Beaverbrook aspires to direct the Foreign Office. . The Observer correspondent comments: "It would be very surprising if this situation—the possibility of Mr. Eden leaving the Foreign Office —in which Lord Beaverbrook has played no small part, were to result in "a decision not after all to find, the Lord Privy Seal the more clearcut job for which he has been asking."