Lloyd George guessed, largely correctly, that the whole affair had been stirred up by General Robertson. He also sensed that Asquith had lost the will to rule. He had had Hankey prepare a brief, using the War Office figures of 18 April, not the DMO figures of 22 April, which had since been heavily amended, or the final set of DMO figures from 7 to 8 May. Whether or nor his statement on 9 April had been honest, a claim accepted by some historians, there is no doubt that he spoke dishonestly in the debate a month later. Lloyd George spoke for one and a quarter hours, twice as long as Asquith. He was direct and combative. He treated the issue as if it were a vote of confidence in the government and rebutted Maurice's charges in a powerful, if misleading speech, based on doubtful material. He pointed out that Asquith had not set up a select committee of the House of Commons over the disastrous Kut Campaign.