Foreign News: Bum Steer

Debate in the House of Lords last week brought to light some secret history. Grizzled Lord Mottistone, 76, recalled the ill-famed 1933 resolution of the Oxford Union, whose members voted 275-10-153 that they “would under no circumstances fight for King and country.”

“This,” declared his Lordship, “is what Mr. Churchill said about that resolution: ‘The effect was shattering on the Continent of Europe—shattering to our prestige. We have actual proof now that Mussolini was so affected by it that he definitely came to the conclusion that Britain might be counted out, and it is probable that it had a decisive influence on his decision to bring Italy in on the side of Germany.'”