Leader of the Labour Opposition, deplored the display of naked force by which the great and historic state of Austria had passed. He pointed out that this action had been taken at the very time when the British Government was pursuing friendly conversations with the German Government, In his opinion, he said, this event had knocked down the house of cards which the Prime Minister had been" building. Mr. Anthony Eden, the' former Foreign Secretary, was shown to have been right, he declared.
Tt_was necessary to stand firm lest all Europe be thrown into the melt-Ing pot, Mr. Attlee said. The Government should ask that the Assembly of "the League of Nations, be sum moned anid should take the lead for evolving means to prevent further Anwlessness. may be, shall regard himself as ex-eluded from any extension of national effort if, it is called for.
What had occurred, Mr. Chamber-sin continued, must inevitably retard economic recovery and, indeed, {increased care was required to ensure that marked deterioration did not set In.
"This is not the moment for hasty decisions (cheers) or for careless words," Mr. Chamberlain emphasized. "Tt would be idle to deny that re-Jeent events might constitute a change jin the flexibility of our' defence pro-Jgramme of the kind we had in mind when we announced it.
"We have decided to make a fresh review and, in due course, we shall Jannounee what further steps we think It necessary to take."
Cheers thundered from every part of the House as the Prime Minister sat down,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.