the Debate rather damped the general atmosphere, when he said that this was not a very great thing; it was a question of two years or one year. But the Lord President of the Council said: Today and tomorrow we are discussing an important constitutional issue." -- [OFFICIAL REPORT, 10th November. 1947; Vol 444. c. 36.] Then later on, he did not seem to know what it was about, because he said: I beg the Opposition not to get hightyflighty about this and not to get into a state of neurosis about it. There is nothing to get into a state of neurosis about. Let them not engage in any flighty tricks of eloquence." -- [OFFICIAL REPORT, 10TH November, 1947; Vol. 444, c. 53.] The Lord President devoted about half of his speech to explaining and making the 237 best possible case he could for the Bill, and, considering the very poor grounds he had to go on, he did not do too badly. But as for the rest of his speech, it was quite clear to me that he was endeavouring to raise this matter right up into the realms of a great issue. He was trying a double-barrelled effort. He was firing one barrel to bring down, in every sense of the words, the iron and steel industry, and he was firing off the other barrel into the blue in the odd hope that something would come down which would be very useful to him at the next