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For Britain's Tory government, already demoralized by Suez, this had the ring of another nail going into the coffin. By his resignation, Elder Statesman Salisbury had severely shaken Tory confidence the Macmillan Cabinet, provided a rallying cry for the substantial number of Tory backbenchers who were already unhappy over Britain's colonial "scuttles." If Makarios should be willing to meet Britain's concessions with concessions of his own, hard-pressed Harold Macmillan might yet be able to point to Cyprus as a triumph and, despite Salisbury's defection, keep unchallenged control of his party. Most of the British press, while ever respectful toward Salisbury, agreed with Macmillan that Makarios had, in the Daily Telegraph's words, "edged or slithered down enough to justify a gamble in the cause of peace." It was a gamble that, in these trying days, might in time make or break Macmillan.