Foreign News: Session No. 10

Outside the House of Lords, the Yeomen of the Guard paraded stiffly. Inside, morning-coated peers and red-robed bishops sat expectantly. In came two bewigged peers, walking backward as tradition dictates. After them came Their Majesties, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth. The tenth session of the present Parliament had begun.

The King wore a naval uniform. By royal right he kept his visored admiral’s cap on. Reading unhurriedly the Speech from the Throne written for him by his Ministers (presumably Winston Churchill), George VI: 1) reviewed the “resounding” military achievements on the war fronts; 2) promised progress, “as opportunity serves,” with the far-reaching social legislation the Government has prepared for the home front (TIME, Oct. 9).

The members listened intently. Parliament was old—its nine-year life was almost twice that of any Parliament since 1911. Just around the corner, in 1945, was Britain’s next general election. Tories, Liberals, Laborites were looking for opportunities, advantages, arguments for an election that will determine how far Britain will go toward socialism. Labor and the Liberals would like to scotch the Conservatives’ main election issue by getting social-security legislation passed by this session of Parliament. So the King’s use of the unmistakably Churchillian phrase, “as opportunity serves,” brought cries of “When?” from Labor and Liberal members. Said Prime Minister Churchill disarmingly: the duration of the war would determine how much time the present Parliament had for social-security lawmaking.