CHURCHILL AND GEORGE

Evening Star, Issue 22817, 27 November 1937, Page 22

CHURCHILL AND GEORGE

FAMOUS ADVERSARIES It does not take one long in the House of Commons to discover that tho major attractions in British parliamentary life are Dayid Lloyd George and Winston Churchill (writes H. B. Elliston, in the ‘ Christian Science Monitor’). Several times before the recess i attended the debates. There was always a buzz of excitement in the corridors whenever either of the two titans was about to speak. Then half-empty benches began to fill up. In the purlieus of Westminster they will tell you that neither of these elder statesmen is influential. Some will call them gadflies; some, obstructionists. That may or may not be the ease. I only know that, when I read of tho expulsion of German journalists from London, I was reminded of a very forceful demand for such action which I heard in tho House from Mr Churchill. Be that as it may, you do not run towards gadflies, and I had to seek some other explanation for the manner in which the duo attracted attention. Mr Lloyd George has a corner seat at the end of the front Opposition bench “ above the gangway i.e., on the first block of Opposition benches nearest the Speaker. “ Why?” I asked a friendly M.P., with whom I was whispering on the bench which, by courtesy of the Sergeant-at-Arms, 1 was occupying under the gallery. “He is not a Labourite.” The reply I got was somewhat vague. “ Well, he took that seat, and, since he is the Father of the House, nobody cared to disturb him.” There is also a distinction in having any reserved stall at all in Parliament, let alone one on the front bench “ above the gangway.” Few seats are sacred in the House of Commons, where, unlike most other assemblies, the elect of the people sit together on long benches, not separately at desks. You may be sure that Mr Churchill shares that distinction with Mr Lloyd George. Another M.P. was in his place on one of my visits, but he hastily moved up when Mr Churchill appeared. The Churchill seat is likewise a corner one, but below the gangway, and, of course, on the opposite side to Mr Lloyd George’s. Thus the two heroes of a thousand parliamentary battles can glare almost directly at each other across the

aisle dividing Government Party from Opposition. Only they don’t seem to glare any more. There is a benevolent look in Mr Churchill’s eye as the sturdy Welshman, pink-cheeked and silver-white of mane, briskly moves the few paces to the short table in front of the Opposition leaders and starts to talk. I noticed a kindred benevolence in the eye of Mr Lloyd George whenever Mr Churchill rose to his feet. They seem to relish each other, these doughty statesmen. Their words gave verisimilitude to that benevolent look; for in the speeches to which I listened there was always a deferential reference to tho other's “ important ” speech. Of the two Mr Lloyd George has more natural advantages. There is a sweetness about that Welsh voice, like the bells of Criccieth at eventide. But tho sweetness is the coating, ofttimes, for an acidulous remark at the expense of a previous speaker, preferably tho Government spokesman. Lloyd George loves the reductio ad absurdum, and as it comes trippingly off tho tongue, the House settles back in obvious enjoyment. Hearing him I thought of Shakespeare’s “Tike softest music to attending ears.” Presently, however, his voice rises clear oven 1 j the lofty ladies’ gallery, and his list pounds the Opposition box on the table, unerringly on the emphatic word. Ho may not be driving home a god point, but he always drives homo a good sentence. From his place below the gangway Mr Churchill no longer has a right to pound the Government’s box. He has to remain in his place. Nevertheless, there is no lack of emphasis in what Mr Churchill has to say. Nor does an impediment in his speech detract one whit from his force. His scoring strokes are dealt with the rapier repartee. “ How can you interrupt a man like that?” whispered my M.P. friend. “ and not get the worst of it I” How, indeed! We had just heard him rebuke the solitary Communist M.P., a perennial interrupter. Churohillian sentences have passed into literature in some splendid tomes. Tho most recent is ‘ Tho Life of Marlborough,’ Mr Churchill’s famous ancestor. One of these sentences occurred in one of the speeches I heard him make. He referred to a British warship “ lolling ” in Spanish waters. There was some scattered laughter. Mr Churchill looked up in pained surprise till an M.P. explained the laughter as springing from the use of the word “ lolling ’ in such a connection. “ Oil,” remarked Mr Churchill, with the utmost urbanity, “ the figure was somewhat picturesque, X grant.

But it arises from the idea of a large and heavy body responding rhythmically to the movement of the waves.” And Mr Churchill accompanied his explanation with a “ lolling ” of his own body, which is becoming both large and heavy; and went on with his speech without a pause.