Taste of the Future

In the House of Commons, Tory M.P. Geoffrey Lloyd had concluded a long and bitter attack on the government's gasoline rationing policy. Lloyd swept his eyes over the thinned-out ranks of the Laborites, and turned to the Speaker. Said he: ". . . We . . . propose to divide the House," i.e., call for a vote on an earlier motion to adjourn.

On the government benches, Socialist Deputy Prime Minister Herbert Morrison looked up in alarm, whispered to Clement Attlee, then turned to Chief Labor Whip William Whiteley. Whiteley scurried out, found a few Laborites dawdling in the bar, a few in the smoking room, and some more in the library. Labor, with an overall parliamentary majority of only three votes, had been caught napping.

The Tories, however, were ready. From 9:30 to 10 p.m., cars and taxis rolled up to Parliament and disgorged Tory M.P.s dutifully returning to vote. A few minutes after 10, the vote was in, and Clement Attlee's government had suffered its first parliamentary defeat: 283 to 257. One exuberant Tory borrowed an old Laborite victory cry. "We are the masters now," he yelled. On the government benches, Morrison flushed and fidgeted. Minister of National Insurance Edith Summerskill stared blankly into 'space. Only Clement Attlee saw the joke. Attlee threw back his head and roared with laughter. As the defeated Laborites filed from the House, the Tories shouted, "Resign, resign!", waved their handkerchiefs in farewell.

Clement Attlee had laughed because he knew the Tories did not want the Labor government to resign on the strength of a losing vote on a motion to adjourn. Next day, Attlee twitted the Conservatives for their "ambush" tactics, declared he refused to regard the issue as one of sufficient weight. "We carry on," he told the House. Said Tory Winston Churchill: "May I express to the Prime Minister our thanks . . ." The Labor benches interrupted him with a roar of laughter. Churchill glanced up, saw the joke, then concluded: ". . . for [his] full and careful statement." The Laborites were still in power, but the taste of the future was an acid one. No one thought that another election could be put off beyond next fall.

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