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True to his favorite political formula—when in trouble, play it down—Harold Macmillan promptly replaced Thorneycroft with 58-year-old Derick Heathcoat (pronounced "Hethcut") Amory, who had been Minister of Agriculture. Then, refusing even to contemplate the slightest alteration in his schedule, Macmillan departed on a five-week tour of Commonwealth nations. As he boarded his plane, he said: "I thought the best thing to do was to settle up these little local difficulties and then turn to the wider vision of the Commonwealth."
"Not a Revolt." Macmillan's nonchalance was not reflected in the government he left behind. Snapped Nigel Birch, one of two senior Treasury officials who resigned along with Thorneycroft: "The Treasury ministers were out to win the battle of inflation. The others were not. That is what the basic quarrel was about." The Times, its brief love affair with Macmillan ended, said: "If, as we believe, a principle is at stake, the smallness of the amount involved becomes an argument for strict observance of the principle, not an argument that it does not really matter anyway." In rebuttal, Home Secretary "Rab" Butler, acting chief of government during Macmillan's absence, insisted that the Cabinet "is united and determined to continue with its battle against inflation," added waspishly: "Other people besides the retired chancellor are entitled to their own convictions and their own particular brand of courage."
Rubbing hands gleefully at the spectacle of Tory disunity, Britain's Laborites plunged into the fray with ringing demands for Macmillan's resignation and a general election. As the Laborites well knew, such demands were unlikely to be fulfilled. By week's end party ranks closed. Even bitter Nigel Birch had publicly stated that "this is not a revolt against the government. We intend to support the new government by voice and vote." While 30 Tory M.P.s sent congratulations to Thorneycroft, only one threatened to desert the Conservative Party.