The Durables

For two men slated, under differing kinds of compulsion, to move from their present positions of power, Britain's two most dramatic politicians were proving astonishingly stubborn and durable. Sir Winston Churchill, though his resignation as Prime Minister seemed to grow more likely as the reported date for it (April 5) approached, devoted the week to a teasing demonstration that at 80 he is still the most dashing performer on the political stage. Aneurin Bevan, Labor's unruly Welshman, cockily sat by while the leaders who were going to expel him split apart and handed him a reprieve.

Chatter. In the House of Commons, Prime Minister Churchill jovially turned aside inquisitive gibes about his retirement. "[You] must not be led away by all the chatter in the press," said he. Socialist Woodrow Wyatt rose to criticize Churchill for disclosing his correspondence with Russia's Foreign Minister Molotov without first getting Molotov's permission. Said Wyatt: "If we disapprove of anything [you] might have written, [you] would only lose [your] job, whereas the men in the Kremlin stand to lose their heads." Righteous indignation filled Churchill's voice, but a smile touched his lips: "I am surprised that the Honorable Gentleman should use question time for making offensive imputations on the Soviet government."

Tory Sir Ian Horobin brought up Yalta and its disclosures about Roosevelt's remark to Stalin that Churchill would have strong objections to giving up the colony of Hong Kong. "Strong objections," Churchill rumbled, "that was certainly correct." He paused a moment and then, in a lionlike voice, added: "--And even an understatement."

One by one, Churchill took on other members. It was such a fine show that Socialist Arthur Woodburn arose and put a final, respectful question: "After the Prime Minister's performance today, where did the Conservative Party get the idea that he is too old to do the job?" Amid applause, tributes and cheers, Sir Winston, flushed pink with his mental and physical gymnastics and looking amazingly boyish, bowed courteously. Next he made off for his parliamentary constituency of 30 years, Woodford, to make a speech that teased some more. "Thirty years is a long time," said he, spacing his words for impact, "but I have every hope it will continue longer still." He--and the Woodford constituents as well--knew that he could continue in Parliament after stepping down as P.M.

Motive. In the board room of Transport House, headquarters of the Labor Party, the party's National Executive took up the case of Nye Bevan. Having thrown him out of Labor's parliamentary caucuses (TIME, March 28), the party chiefs were logically expected to finish the job by expelling Bevan from the party proper.

Laborite Leader Clement Attlee smoked his pipe and doodled while the right-wingers, led by Heir Apparent Herbert Morrison and Heir Apparent II Hugh Gaitskell, pressed for outright expulsion. But Clem Attlee, the man who had backed the disciplining of Bevan in the first place, pulled the pipe from his mouth and made a surprise proposal: postpone expulsion and set up a committee to inquire whether Nye Bevan might not be brought into line with party discipline. The right-wingers fought, but lost. With Attlee voting for Bevan, the National Executive decided, 14 to 13, to stay Nye Bevan's expulsion. "What can you do with a man who doodles while Transport House burns?" one Laborite complained of Attlee's switch. "Bevan's not out of the woods, by a long way," added a Gaitskellite.

Attlee had his motive. The activities of the two political personalities, Churchill and Bevan, were in a way interlocked. Churchill's stepping down means elections soon--the guessing is for a date in spring or fall--and elections mean that Clement Attlee needs all the strength he can muster to make Labor even a respectable loser, let alone a winner. Though his prestige will not be helped by the sudden attack of timidity and tolerance for the man who persistently defies his leadership, Attlee knows that the poor showing he would make in an election without Nye Bevan's following in the constituencies would weaken his leadership far more.

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