BRITISH POLITICS.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXIII, Issue 959, 25 February 1911, Page 4

BRITISH POLITICS.

London, February 23. There was a great scene in the House of Commons to-day when the division was taken on Mr Asquith’s motion that the Parliament Bill be read a first time. The first reading was carried by a majority of 124, the voting being : For the Bill 351 Against the Bill 227 Majority for 124 The Ministerialists were jubilant and stood waving hats and order papers and cheering, as Mr Asquith carried the Bill from the Bar of the House to the table. The demonstration was maintained for several minutes, the Irish Nationalists crying “Down with the Lords !” Mr F. F. Smith (Unionist member for Walton) commented on the Government’s surprising levity in attempting to dispose of the Bill before the Coronation. There was an English majority against the Bill, which would support the Opposition in any resistance, however desperate. This statement was received with cheers and counter-cheers

Mr George Wyndham, formerly Chief Secretary for Ireland in the Balfour Administration, suggested that the Government should discuss proposals for a joint sitting of the two Houses.

Mr Winston Churchill, Home Secretary, said the humiliation of having Liberal Bill flung back in Ministers’ faces would never be forgotten. If the Government accepted the invitation to hold another conference they would not have fifty supporters. The referendum was vicious in itself, and especially unsuited to Great Britain. It would lead to Jacobinism, Socialism, and anarchy. A measure creating a fair and well-constituted Second Chamber would be introduced.

Mr F. E. Smith interjected—- “ When ?”

Mr Churchill did not reply, and there was a prolonged demonstration on both sides. Mr Churchill concluded his speech by stating that the Opposition policy, while wrecking every other institution, sought to preserve the sinister and ugly veto of the House of Lords. In the House of Lords the Marquis of Lansdowne (Leader of the Opposition in the Chamber) announced the introduction at an early date of a Bill to amend the constitution of the House of Lords.

The Times, commenting on the Veto Bill, says: “There was nothing in Mr Asquith’s speech to indicate a disposition to listen to suggestions as to modification. Mr Balfour, impressed by Mr Asquith’s uncompromising attitude, seems resigned to a bitter contest.”

The Daily Mail (Unionist) declares that the driving power is not the Liberals, but the Nationalists and Labourites. If the Cabinet’s aim is a sane, strong, dual-chamber government, and not single-chamber autocracy, then the Unionists are one with Mr Asquith, and it will only be necessary to consider details. “ But this,” adds the Mail, “would involve vital modifications in the Bill.”

The Daily News (Liberal) says : “ Judging by Mr Balfour’s remarks, the opposition to the Bill will be one of shadows and phantoms.”

The Pall Mall Gazette (Unionist) says the Nationalists, in refraining from taking part in the Coronation, will avoid recognition of the Sovereign, on political grounds. This, adds the paper, is the height of disloyalty.