Disraeli once observed that the nearest thing to a Tory in disguise was a Whig in office. In the debate on Empire foreign policy in the House of Commons last week, it was just as hard to tell the difference between the new socialists in office and the old Tories in opposition.
The issue was Hong Kong, Britain's Chinese crown colony. Did Britain mean to keep it or give it up? First socialist Foreign Secretary Ernest Bevin answered bluntly: "We have taken steps to receive the surrender of the Japanese forces in Hong Kong." Then Prime Minister Clement Attlee made the matter...
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