GREAT BRITAIN THE LOST LEADER AS THE HOUSE OF COMMONS CLOCK TICKED 
TOWARD STARTING TIME FOR THE GREAT DEBATE, THERE WERE ONLY TWO 
EMPTY SEATS IN THE JAMMED, EXPECTANT CHAMBER . THE FIRST WAS 
FILLED, WITH FOUR MINUTES TO SPARE, BY HAROLD MACMILLAN, WHO SAT 
DOWN STIFFLY ON THE GOVERNMENT'S FRONT BENCH, LOOKING AS CHILL AND 
WAN AS HIS EFFIGY AT MADAME TUSSAUD'S . TWO MINUTES LATER, 
A SHORT, PLUMP MAN IN A SHABBY GREY SUIT BUSTLED EXPRESSIONLESSLY 
DOWN THE GANGWAY, SANK INTO THE OPPOSITION FRONT BENCH FACING MACMILLAN, 
AND FINGERED A CARDBOARD FILE . AS THE CLOCK STRUCK, LABOR 
PARTY LEADER HAROLD WILSON ROSE TO HIS FEET AND FOR A 
SECOND SAVORED THE TINGLING SILENCE BEFORE BREAKING IT WITH HIS FLAT 
NASAL YORKSHIRE VOICE . " THIS IS A DEBATE, " HE 
BEGAN, " WITHOUT PRECEDENCE IN THE ANNALS OF THE HOUSE . 
" THE TWO MEN WERE THE PRODUCTS OF TWO REMARKABLE POLITICAL 
CAREERS AND ALSO OF TWO BRITAINS : MACMILLAN, THE SKILLFUL, COURAGEOUS 
AND OFTEN RUTHLESS PATRICIAN WHO HAD RESCUED HIS COUNTRY FROM THE 
DEBRIS OF SUEZ AND LED IT INTO AN ERA OF UNPRECEDENTED 
PROSPERITY ; HAROLD WILSON, THE DRY, DILIGENT AND OFTEN DEVIOUS SON 
OF A PROVINCIAL CHEMIST WHO HAD RISEN BY HARD WORK AND 
CHANCE (INCLUDING THE DEATH OF THE MAN HE SUCCEEDED, HUGH GAITSKELL) 
TO THE TOP OF THE LABOR PARTY . AS HE FACED 
MACMILLAN, WHO HAD GONE TO OXFORD BY FAMILY TRADITION, HAROLD WILSON, 
WHO HAD GONE TO OXFORD ON A SCHOLARSHIP, STROVE TO EMBODY 
A NEW, IMPATIENT, CLASS-DEFYING ENGLAND . THE MORAL DECAY SURROUNDING THE 
PROFUMO AFFAIR, HE TRIED HARD TO SUGGEST, MUST BE BLAMED ON 
THE TORIES . REFERRING TO CHRISTINE KEELER'S REPORTED $14,000-A-WEEK NIGHTCLUB CONTRACT, 
WILSON DECLARED : " THERE IS SOMETHING UTTERLY NAUSEATING ABOUT A 
SYSTEM OF SOCIETY WHICH PAYS A HARLOT 25 TIMES AS MUCH 
AS IT PAYS ITS PRIME MINISTER . " FOR THE REST, 
HAROLD WILSON STUCK TO THE SECURITY ISSUE AND THE GOVERNMENT'S HANDLING 
OF THE PROFUMO CASE, WHICH HE ATTACKED AS EITHER DISHONEST OR 
INCOMPETENT, OR BOTH . LET DOWN . THE ONCE UNFLAPPABLE MACMILLAN 
FIDGETED IN HIS SEAT AND KEPT DABBING AT THE POUCHES BENEATH 
HIS EYES WITH A CRUMPLED HANDKERCHIEF . WHEN HE ROSE, HE 
OPENLY PLAYED FOR THE SYMPATHY OF HIS COLLEAGUES . " WHAT 
HAS HAPPENED, " HE SAID, " HAS INFLICTED A DEEP, BITTER 
AND LASTING WOUND ON ME . " ESSENTIALLY HIS DEFENSE WAS 
THAT HE HAD BEEN GROSSLY DECEIVED BY PROFUMO AN " ALMOST 
UNBELIEVABLE " CULPRIT AND BADLY LET DOWN BY HIS SUBORDINATES, WHO 
FAILED TO KEEP HIM INFORMED . FROM THE BACK BENCHES CAME 
A RUDE GIBE OF " NOBODY EVER TELLS ME NUFFIN ! 
" BY THE TIME MACMILLAN FINISHED, THE HOUSE WAS PREPARED TO 
ACQUIT HIM OF PERSONAL DISHONESTY AND MORAL TURPITUDE, BUT HE HAD 
CONVICTED HIMSELF OF NEGLIGENCE AND NAIVETE OR PERHAPS SIMPLY OF A 
FATAL ABILITY TO AVERT HIS EYES FROM WHAT HE DID NOT 
WISH TO SEE . IN THE VOTE FOLLOWING THE DEBATE, 27 
CONSERVATIVES VOTED AGAINST MACMILLAN OR ABSTAINED . ON ALL SIDES THERE 
WERE CRIES OF " RESIGN, RESIGN, " AND THIS IS WHAT 
MACMILLAN WILL ALMOST CERTAINLY HAVE TO DO THE ONLY REMAINING QUESTION 
BEING WHEN . THE WARNING . THE LONG DEBATE SERVED TO 
FIX GOVERNMENT RESPONSIBILITY, OR THE LACK OF IT, AND ILLUSTRATED THE 
ODD NATURE OF THE BRITISH SECURITY SYSTEM, COMPOUNDED OF SHREWDNESS, INEFFICIENCY, 
AND AN OFTEN MISGUIDED SENSE OF SPORTSMANSHIP THAT GOES TO EXTRAORDINARY 
LENGTHS IN PROTECTING MEMBERS OF THE CLUB . THE CASE, AS 
IT EMERGED FROM THE DEBATE, FALLS INTO FOUR PHASES . FIRST, 
THERE WAS THE CHRISTINE-PROFUMO AFFAIR ITSELF, WHICH, ACCORDING TO PROFUMO, LASTED 
ONLY A FEW MONTHS, FROM JULY TO DECEMBER 1961, BUT BY 
OTHER EVIDENCE POSSIBLY LASTED LONGER . DURING THOSE SAME MONTHS, CHRISTINE 
ALSO ENTERTAINED RUSSIAN ASSISTANT NAVAL ATTACHE EVGENY IVANOV, WHO HAD BEEN 
PALS FOR SOME TIME WITH HER MENTOR, DR . STEPHEN WARD 
. MI-5, BRITISH INTELLIGENCE, APPARENTLY DISCOVERED ONLY HALF OF WHAT WILSON 
SCATHINGLY CALLED " THIS DINGY QUADRILATERAL . " IN AUGUST 1961, 
ACCORDING TO THE COMMONS DEBATE, CABINET SECRETARY SIR NORMAN BROOK WARNED 
PROFUMO THAT IT WOULD BE BETTER FOR THE SECRETARY FOR WAR 
NOT TO BE TOO FRIENDLY WITH WARD ; HE DID NOT 
MENTION, AND EVIDENTLY DID NOT KNOW ABOUT, CHRISTINE . NOTHING OF 
THIS WAS REPORTED TO MACMILLAN . IN THE SECOND PHASE, WHICH 
COVERS MOST OF 1962, RUMORS OF THE AFFAIR KEPT REACHING THE 
NEWSPAPERS, TORY AND LABOR POLITICIANS, BUT APPARENTLY NOT THE PRIME MINISTER 
. DURING THE CUBA BLOWUP, WARD WAS ALL OVER THE PLACE, 
SUGGESTING TO THE PRIME MINISTER'S OFFICE AND TO THE FOREIGN OFFICE 
THAT HIS FRIEND IVANOV BE USED AS AN INTERMEDIARY TO HELP 
SETTLE THE CRISIS . BUT SAID MACMILLAN, A LOT OF PEOPLE 
WERE THEN TRYING TO GET INTO THE ACT " TO WEAKEN 
OUR RESOLUTION . " A LITTLE LATER, WILSON HIMSELF GOT A 
LETTER FROM WARD, BOASTING OF HIS SUPPOSED HELP IN SETTLING THE 
CUBA MATTER, BUT FILED IT AWAY AS COMING FROM A CRANK 
. BEFORE IVANOV WAS RECALLED TO MOSCOW IN JANUARY 1963, HE 
AROUSED SUSPICION IN OTHER WAYS . A BRIDGE PLAYER WHO TOOK 
A HAND IN SOME VERY HIGH-LEVEL GAMES, HE LOST STEADILY, AS 
MUCH AS $140 A NIGHT . " I DO NOT BELIEVE 
THE SOVIET EMBASSY'S PETTY CASH WOULD STAND SUCH LOSSES EVERY NIGHT, 
" SAID ONE LABOR M.P . CAUSTICALLY, / UNLESS THEY GOT 
SOMETHING FOR IT . " THE VIGIL . IN THE THIRD 
AND MOST REMARKABLE PHASE, MACMILLAN FINALLY BECAME AWARE THAT THERE WAS 
SUCH A THING AS A PROFUMO CASE . IN JANUARY 1963, 
AS MACMILLAN TOLD COMMONS POLICE LEARNED FROM CHRISTINE THAT WARD HAD 
ASKED HER TO FIND OUT FROM PROFUMO WHEN THE U.S . 
WAS TO DELIVER CERTAIN NUCLEAR INFORMATION AND WARHEADS TO WEST GERMANY 
(SHE SAID THAT SHE REFUSED TO DO IT) . MACMILLAN WAS 
NOT TOLD OF THIS EITHER . BUT WHILE HE WAS AWAY 
IN ITALY, THE GENERAL MANAGER OF THE HUGE (CIRC . 6,500,000) 
NEWS OF THE WORLD REPORTED THE PROFUMO RUMORS TO MACMILLAN'S PRINCIPAL 
PRIVATE SECRETARY . CONFRONTED WITH THE STORY, PROFUMO DENIED EVERYTHING TO 
SEVERAL OFFICIALS ; THE RELATIONSHIP HAD BEEN INNOCENT, HE SAID, AND 
ANYWAY HAD ENDED LONG BEFORE . WHY DIDN'T THE PRIME MINISTER 
QUESTION PROFUMO HIMSELF AT ANY TIME ? MACMILLAN'S LAME ANSWER : 
HE ASSUMED THAT PROFUMO WOULD SPEAK MORE FREELY TO OTHERS, AND 
FURTHERMORE SUCH AN INTERROGATION WOULD HAVE MADE " SOCIAL RELATIONS " 
BETWEEN HIMSELF AND PROFUMO HIGHLY EMBARRASSING . AND WHY DIDN'T ANYONE 
ATTEMPT TO INTERROGATE CHRISTINE HERSELF TO CHECK OUT PROFUMO'S DENIAL ? 
TO THIS, MACMILLAN HAD NO ANSWER AT ALL . AFTER CHRISTINE 
FAILED TO APPEAR AS A WITNESS LAST MARCH IN THE TRIAL 
OF A JEALOUS NEGRO LOVER WHO HAD TRIED TO SHOOT HER, 
QUESTIONS WERE FINALLY RAISED IN PARLIAMENT . MACMILLAN ASKED FOR ACTION, 
ADMITTEDLY HOPING FOR A STATEMENT FROM PROFUMO THAT WOULD QUELL FURTHER 
RUMORS IN THE PRESS THROUGH FEAR OF LIBEL . WHEN THE 
HOUSE ADJOURNED AFTER MIDNIGHT, PROFUMO WAS AWAKENED, AND AT 1 : 
30 A.M . CAME TO CHIEF TORY WHIP MARTIN REDMAYNE'S COMMONS 
OFFICE WITH HIS SOLICITOR . HE WAS CONFRONTED BY REDMAYNE, TORY 
CHAIRMAN IAIN MACLEOD, MINISTER WITHOUT PORTFOLIO WILLIAM DEEDES, ATTORNEY GENERAL SIR 
JOHN HOBSON AND SOLICITOR GENERAL SIR PETER RAWLINSON . TWO OF 
PROFUMO'S INTERROGATORS HAD BEEN AT HARROW WITH HIM . WHERE LAST 
WEEK HE WAS EXPELLED FROM THE COMMUNIST PARTY, DISMISSED FROM THE 
INTELLIGENCE SERVICE, AND SENT TO A MENTAL HOSPITAL . THE LETTER 
. UNDER FRIENDLY QUESTIONING UNTIL 5 A.M., PROFUMO DENIED MISCONDUCT WITH 
CHRISTINE . HE AGREED TO MAKE A SACROSANCT " PERSONAL STATEMENT, 
" ASSURING THE HOUSE THAT HE HAD COMMITTED " NO IMPROPRIETY 
WHATSOEVER " WITH MISS KEELER . HIS FELLOW MINISTERS SUGGESTED THAT 
HE ADMIT AT LEAST TO BEING " ON FRIENDLY TERMS WITH 
HER, " ALTHOUGH IT " SOUNDED SO AWFUL, " AS PROFUMO 
PUT IT . " WE INSISTED THAT IT MUST BE INCLUDED, 
" EXPLAINED MACLEOD FATUOUSLY LAST WEEK, " BECAUSE IT WAS PART 
OF THE TRUTH . " AGAINST HIMSELF AND THE FOUR OTHER 
MINISTERS, MACLEOD ADDED, " TWO POSSIBLE CHARGES CAN BE BROUGHT . 
FIRST, THAT WE WERE CONSPIRING KNAVES, AND SECONDLY, THAT WE WERE 
GULLIBLE FOOLS . " THEY WERE INDEED GULLIBLE BUT OBVIOUSLY THEY 
WANTED TO BE . EVEN THE MOST CURSORY CHECKING WOULD HAVE 
DISCLOSED THAT WHILE CHRISTINE MAY HAVE HAD JOIE DE VIVRE, SHE 
HAD LITTLE DISCRETION . PROFUMO'S INTERROGATORS KNEW BY THEN ABOUT A 
LETTER HE HAD WRITTEN TO CHRISTINE IN 1961 BEGINNING " DARLING 
. . . " PROFUMO EXPLAINED, AS MACMILLAN PUT IT, THAT 
IN HIS CIRCLES " IT WAS A TERM OF NO GREAT 
SIGNIFICANCE . I BELIEVE THAT THIS MIGHT BE ACCEPTED . I 
DO NOT LIVE AMONG YOUNG PEOPLE FAIRLY WIDELY . " BUT 
IF IT WAS ACCEPTABLE TO MACMILLAN, AT 69 A LITTLE REMOTE 
FROM REALITY, IT SHOULD NOT HAVE FOOLED THE OTHERS . " 
WE WERE A BUNCH OF NINNIES, " ADMITS ONE OF THE 
FIVE PRIVATELY, AND ADDS WITH EXTRAORDINARY LOGIC : " WE RECALLED 
THAT EARLIER CASE, IN WHICH " MY DEAR VASSALL' PROVED TO 
BE HARMLESS, SO WE WERE BOUND TO FEEL THAT " DARLING' 
MIGHT WELL BE SIMILARLY HARMLESS . " THE EXIT . THE 
LAST PHASE OF THE CASE BEGAN AFTER PROFUMO PROCLAIMED HIS PURITY 
TO THE HOUSE, WAS WARMLY PATTED ON THE BACK BY THE 
PRIME MINISTER, AND WITH HIS WIFE, ACTRESS VALERIE HOBSON, WENT OFF 
TO THE RACES WITH THE QUEEN MOTHER, AND LATER ATTENDED A 
TORY BALL AT QUAGLINO'S, A WEST END NIGHTCLUB . BUT THERE 
WERE EDITORS AND M.P.'S WHO KNEW BY NOW THAT HE HAD 
LIED, AND PROFUMO SHOWED HIMSELF BOTH ARROGANT AND STUPID IN THINKING 
THAT HE COULD SUPPRESS THE TRUTH INDEFINITELY BY LIBEL SUITS . 
(IN FACT, HE SUED PARIS-MATCH FOR LIBEL AND COLLECTED OUT OF 
COURT FROM ITALY'S TEMPO ILLUSTRATO.) BESIDES, WARD BEGAN TO TALK, AND 
TO LABOR M.P . GEORGE WIGG HE UNFOLDED A TALE, AS 
WILSON DESCRIBED IT IN THE COMMONS, THAT " TOOK THE LID 
OFF A CORNER OF THE LONDON UNDERWORLD VICE AND DOPE, MARIJUANA, 
BLACKMAIL AND COUNTER-BLACKMAIL, VIOLENCE, PETTY CRIME . " ADDED WILSON GRATUITUOUSLY 
: " IF WARD'S STATEMENT HAD BEEN PUBLISHED AS A FICTION 
PAPERBACK IN AMERICA, IT WOULD HAVE SEEMED OVERDRAWN AND BEYOND BELIEF 
. " WILSON SENT AN ACCOUNT OF THE WARDWIGG CONVERSATION TO 
MACMILLAN, WHO TURNED IT OVER TO THE " APPROPRIATE AUTHORITIES, " 
WHO FOUND NOTHING DISTURBING IN IT . PRODDED FURTHER, MACMILLAN WROTE 
WILSON : " THERE SEEMS TO BE NOTHING IN THE PAPERS 
YOU SENT WHICH REQUIRES ME TO TAKE ANY ACTION . / 
WHEN JOHN VASSALL, A HOMOSEXUAL ADMIRALTY CLERK, WAS CONVICTED LAST OCTOBER 
OF SPYING FOR THE RUSSIANS, MACMILLAN SUMMARILY FIRED THE CLERK'S SUPERIOR, 
THOMAS GALBRAITH, WHO HAD WRITTEN THE CLERK SOME LETTERS STARTING " 
MY DEAR VASSALL . " GALBRAITH WAS LATER WHOLLY EXONERATED . 
THOUGH POSSIBLY NOT IN BRITAIN, WHERE TROPIC OF CANCER HAS BEEN 
A BESTSELLER FOR MONTHS AND THE UNEXPURGATED LADY CHATTERLEY'S LOVER HAS 
SOLD 3,500,000 PAPERBACK COPIES . EVEN AFTER WARD SENT WILSON, THE 
HOME SECRETARY AND THE ENTIRE BRITISH PRESS A LETTER ANNOUNCING THAT 
PROFUMO HAD LIED TO THE HOUSE OF COMMONS, THE DISCLOSURE " 
DID NOT SEEM TO MAKE ANY IMPRESSION " ON THE PRIME 
MINISTER . WHILE ORDERING THE LORD CHANCELLOR TO INVESTIGATE WARD'S CHARGES, 
MACMILLAN ASSURED WILSON HE WAS CONFIDENT NONETHELESS THAT THE SECURITY QUESTION 
HAD BEEN " FULLY AND EFFICIENTLY WATCHED " ALTHOUGH, AS WILSON 
ACCURATELY POINTED OUT, MI-5 MEN APPARENTLY KNEW NOTHING ABOUT CHRISTINE UNTIL 
THEY READ ABOUT HER IN THE PAPERS . AS THE DISMAL 
FACTS AND ALIBIS TUMBLED OUT IN THE COMMONS, THE ADULATION AND 
AFFECTION THE TORIES HAD ONCE BESTOWED ON " MACWONDER " TURNED 
ALMOST VISIBLY TO A KIND OF STUPEFIED PITY . AT THE 
END OF HIS DEFENSE, MACMILLAN PLEADED : " I AM ENTITLED 
TO THE SYMPATHETIC UNDERSTANDING AND CONFIDENCE OF THE HOUSE AND OF 
THE COUNTRY . " BUT FROM THE TORY BENCHES, AS HE 
SAT DOWN, CAME A SOUND THAT WAS MORE SIGH THAN CHEER 
. BY TWOS AND THREES, PERTURBED BACKBENCHERS WENT OUT TO ARGUE 
IN THE LOBBIES WHILE SEVERAL TORY SPEAKERS CAUSTICALLY CONDEMNED THE PRIME 
MINISTER . MACMILLAN ROSE AND WITH BOWED HEAD LEFT THE CHAMBER 
. WHO NEXT ? SOME ANGRY TORIES FELT THAT MACMILLAN SHOULD 
RESIGN AT ONCE, BUT AT A BACKBENCHERS' MEETING THE VIEW PREVAILED 
THAT, AS ONE CABINET MINISTER PUT IT, " THE COUNTRY MUST 
NOT GET THE FEELING THAT HE IS BEING HOUNDED OUT BECAUSE 
OF CHRISTINE KEELER . OUR PARTY WOULD NEVER RECOVER FROM THAT 
. " THE PRESENT CONSENSUS IS THAT MACMILLAN WILL BE ALLOWED 
TO RETIRE RATHER THAN TO RESIGN, SOME TIME THIS SUMMER OR 
FALL . IN PERSPECTIVE, HE MAY WELL REMAIN ONE OF THE 
MOST SUCCESSFUL PRIME MINISTERS IN TORY HISTORY, BUT FEW CONSERVATIVES WANT 
HIM IN COMMAND OF THEIR NEXT ELECTION CAMPAIGN ; EVEN PREPROFUMO, 
THE PARTY HAD BEEN IN BAD TROUBLE OVER DEFENSE MUDDLES, BRITAIN'S 
FAILURE TO ENTER THE COMMON MARKET, AND ABOVE ALL MACMILLAN'S STOP-AND-GO 
FISCAL POLICIES AND A SLUGGISH ECONOMY . ALTHOUGH MACMILLAN HAS SYSTEMATICALLY 
ELIMINATED RIVALS BY GIVING THEM THANKLESS TASKS OR SACKING THEM, THE 
TORIES HAVE A NUMBER OF HIGHLY PLAUSIBLE SUCCESSORS . CURRENTLY IN 
THE LEAD (DAILY EXPRESS ODDS : 4-7) IS CHANCELLOR OF THE 
EXCHEQUER REGINALD MAUDLING, WHO IS YOUTHFUL (46) AND READY TO TAKE 
CREDIT FOR A PREDICTED ECONOMIC SPURT THIS SUMMER . HE IS 
ALSO HAPPILY MARRIED, A PARTICULARLY USEFUL QUALIFICATION RIGHT NOW . NEXT 
ARE DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER " RAB " BUTLER (2-1), WHO HAS 
ALL THE NECESSARY EXPERIENCE, BUT AT 60 MAY HAVE BEEN AROUND 
TOO LONG ; AND LORD HAILSHAM, BELLICOSE, BLIMPISH SCIENCE MINISTER, 55, 
WHOSE HOPES FADED RAPIDLY WHEN THE GOVERNMENT SAID THAT ITS LORDS 
REFORM BILL, WHICH WOULD PERMIT HIM TO SIT IN THE COMMONS, 
WOULD NOT BE INTRODUCED THIS SUMMER . TED HEATH, 46, IS 
GENERALLY RULED OUT BECAUSE HE IS ASSOCIATED WITH THE COMMON MARKET 
FAILURE, AND BESIDES, HE IS A BACHELOR . WHAT NEXT ? 
ANY ONE OF THESE TORIES COULD GIVE LABOR A GOOD FIGHT 
IN THE NEXT ELECTION, WHICH DOES NOT HAVE TO BE HELD 
TILL THE FALL OF 1964 . BUT LABORITES FEEL THEMSELVES CLOSER 
TO POWER THAN THEY HAVE AT ANY TIME IN THE LAST 
DOZEN YEARS . AT WEEK'S END HAROLD WILSON RETURNED TO THE 
ATTACK IN THE COMMONS, DEMANDING AN INVESTIGATION OF THE PROFUMO CASE 
BY A PARLIAMENTARY SELECT COMMITTEE WITH SWEEPOING POWERS . THE MORE 
LIMITED JUDICIAL INQUIRY PROPOSED BY MACMILLAN, CRIED WILSON, WAS MERELY " 
A COVER-UP, " BECAUSE, WITHOUT AUTHORITY TO COMPEL PROOF OF THE 
ATTENDANCE OF WITNESSES, IT WOULD HAVE TO COLLECT EVIDENCE " FROM 
SOME OF THE MOST UNMITIGATED LIARS IN THIS COUNTRY WERE THERE 
ANY MORE REVELATIONS TO COME WILSON WANTED TO KNOW . NOTHING 
HE KNEW OF RIGHT NOW, SAID MACMILLAN, BUT HE ADDED : 
" I HAVE HEARD TERRIBLE THINGS SAID OF ALL SORTS OF 
PEOPLE THE MOST AUTHORITATIVE SOURCE OF ALL, CHRISTINE HERSELF, VOLUNTEERED : 
" APART FROM THOSE I HAVE ALREADY MENTIONED IN MY STORY, 
I DO NOT KNOW AND HAVE NOT MET ANY MINISTERS . 
" MACMILLAN RECOVERED HIS COMPOSURE . " THEY HAVE DEEPLY WOUNDED 
ME, " HE TOLD A TORY RALLY, ADDING : " IT 
WILL NOT BREAK MY SPIRIT . " BUT THE HOUSE STILL 
REMEMBERED THE WORDS OF TORY REBEL NIGEL BIRCH, WHO DURING THE 
BIG DEBATE HAD QUOTED BROWNING'S THE LOST LEADER AT HAROLD MACMILLAN 
: LET HIM NEVER COME BACK TO US ! THERE WOULD 
BE DOUBT, HESITATION AND PAIN . FORCED PRAISE ON OUR PART 
THE GLIMMER OF TWILIGHT, NEVER GLAD CONFIDENT MORNING AGAIN ! 