The Parliamentary debates on the income of the Royal Family have ended, and it is to be hoped that the institution of the monarchy will not come under review again for some time. On the whole, most of the Socialists behaved with dignity. [Labor Party] There are always a few republicans, crackpots and exhibitionists who take their opportunity to dance in front of the statute but the good sense of the British people remains firmly entrenched in its support of the monarchy.

We do not want the ruler of Britain chosen by a mad convention at the Albert Hall. The roots of the monarchy are deep in this island soil.

It is not easy to assess the true inwardness of events in the Middle East. The military coup d’etat in Cairo was accompanied by the admirable assurance that it would put an end to corruption. [Ouster of King Farouk] Unhappily most revolutions start with hands raised to heaven and end with hands in the till. Perhaps Egypt will set the world an example. Perhaps . . .

The weeping Mossadegh of Iran is a far more worrying proposition. He has scored a double victory — one over his political opponents at home, and one over the British at the Hague.

When the world court decided that the Iranian oil question did not come under its jurisdiction, the British suffered a diplomatic defeat. It is all a sequel to the well-meaning fumbling of Socialist Morrison who thought that he could deal with Mossadegh as if he were a fellow trade-unionist. [Foreign Secretary Herbert Morrison]