(1) Henry (Chips) Channon, diary entry (19th December, 1935)

What a day. Sir Samuel Hoare has resigned. He sat in a corner of the 3rd bench, a place usually accorded to fallen Cabinet Ministers. He looked thin and ill, and had a plaster across his nose, which he broke in Switzerland a few days ago There was considerable tension; many people, I amongst them, felt that the Government has behaved with almost incredible stupidity. It wobbled. First it displeased the Left-Wing by its seeming acceptance ot the Hoare-Laval proposals, and then suddenly it made a volte-face and dropped Hoare and the Proposals, thus enraging the Right-Wing the Socialist Opposition have put down a Motion of Censure.

At last Sam Hoare got up, and in a flash he had won the sympathy ot the House by his lucidity, his concise narrative, his sincerity and patriotism. He told the whole story of his negotiations and added that not a country, save our own, has moved a soldier, a ship, an aeroplane - was this collective action? He was a Cato defending himself; for 40 minutes he held the House breathless, and at last sat down, but not before he had wished his successor better luck, and burst into tears. I have never been so moved by a speech. It may have been only a Mea Gulpa; but to me it was more - it was the voice of a large section of sensible England; perhaps the swan-song of a certain Conservative spirit ... He may be down today, disowned and disgraced, but he will rise again, I am sure, and soon, to high office. But his health is weak and his nerves seem shattered. The House vibrated with emotion as he spoke; and had it been possible to put a vote I am sure he would have won. But he was followed by the Prime Minister, who was embarrassed and spoke lamely, though he was honest enough to admit his mistake in accepting the proposals. In no other country could the Prime Minister stand up in the Chamber and calmly say 'I made a mistake, and I am sorry . But Mr Baldwin can do this better than anyone. The House took him at his word. There were a few back-benchers , murmuring inaudible complaints including myself. If I had been in the House longer, I should have struck a note of reality, and expressed the opinion of everyone one meets - for God's sake, Mr Baldwin, make peace. Instead he has allowed himself to be bullied by the Left-Wing Conservatives and by Liberals. Attlee, the Socialist Leader, followed. He looks like a black snail and is equally ineffective: he challenged the Government, in a long, unconvincing speech; indeed, given his case, almost anyone could have made a better job of it. The House emptied. Austen Chamberlain rose, gaunt, deaf, and was mildly conciliatory and then made a sudden assault on Attlee which made the little man seem to shrink. Harold Nicolson made a good 'maiden' - the Liberals talked a lot of nonsense. The vote was put: and the Government won with a majority of 232. Cheers, and then an Amendment which we again won, and then home. The Government is saved.

(2) Winston Churchill, speech in the House of Commons on the resignation of Anthony Eden as Foreign Secretary (22nd February, 1938)

The resignation of the late Foreign Secretary may well be a milestone in history. Great quarrels, it has been well said, arise from small occasions but seldom from small causes. The late Foreign Secretary adhered to the old policy which we have all forgotten for so long. The Prime Minister and his colleagues have entered upon another and a new policy. The old policy was an effort to establish the rule of law in Europe, and build up through the League of Nations effective deterrents against the aggressor. Is it the new policy to come to terms with the totalitarian Powers in the hope that by great and far-reaching acts of submission, not merely in sentiment and pride, but in material factors, peace may be preserved.

A firm stand by France and Britain, under the authority of the League of Nations, would have been followed by the immediate evacuation of the Rhineland without the shedding of a drop of blood; and the effects of that might have enabled the more prudent elements of the German Army to gain their proper position, and would not have given to the political head of Germany the enormous ascendancy which has enabled him to move forward. Austria has now been laid in thrall, and we do not know whether Czechoslovakia will not suffer a similar attack.

(3) Anthony Eden, speech at Stratford-upon-Avon (23rd September, 1938)

Nobody will quarrel with the Government's wish to bring about appeasement in Europe. But if appeasement is to mean what it says, it must not be at the expense either of our vital interests, or of our national reputation, or of our sense of fair dealing.

For our own people the issue becomes clarified. They see freedom of thought, of race, of worship grow every week more restricted in Europe. The conviction is growing that continued retreat can only lead to ever-widening confusion. They know that a stand must be made. They pray that it be not made too late.