BRIGHT EXCHANGE IN COMMONS

Press, Volume XC, Issue 27307, 25 March 1954, Page 11

BRIGHT EXCHANGE IN COMMONS

Sir Hartley Shawcross Replies To Gibe

LONDON, March 23. Sir Hartley Shawcross, who has not made many appearances in the House of Commons this session, was twitted about his long absences by Sir Walter Fletcher (Conservative) when Sir Hartley Shawcross attended the EastWest trade debate. “Sir Hartley Shawcross is the coelocanth of the Labour Party,” said Sir Walter Fletcher.

“What?” said Sir Hartley Shawcross in a surprised tone. Sir Walter Fletcher explained: “The coelocanth is a fish which is supposed to be extinct, and then suddenly arrives, with a look of amazement on seeing where it finds itself, and then returns to the cavernous depths of the law again, not to be seen for another 10 months.”

Two hours later when Sir Hartley Shawcross wound up the debate—his first important speech in the House of Commons for more than two years —he looked across at Sir Walter Fletcher and said: “The coelocanth is a remarkable fish, possessing at least four notable characteristics. “It is of long life and of great endurance. It never deserts its home. Unlike the political minnows who drift and paddle in the more stagnant, if more blue waters. It never speaks unless it has something to say. “And it has a sting in its tail, which it uses, not with wasteful prodigality, but when occasion requires.”