If, in a Great Public Crisis like the present, every Member of this House will discard all party considerations, and will act only from the conviction of what he believes to be best for the welfare and advantage of the kingdom, I shall have a strong and confident expectation that at least a great proportion of the respectable Gentlemen who supported Lord Grey's Administration will not unite in the opposition to the present.

Possibly that might be a gain to hon. Members opposite, but private feelings should not be considered in a Great Public Crisis.

It may be that some very Great Public Crisis has arisen, and there may happen to be, accidentally or intentionally, a notice of motion upon the Paper of this House, and though it may be the highest duty of the House to discuss that subject, though the Government desired it and the Opposition desired it, yet you have a rule which reduces you absolutely to impotence.

Today, we are debating the resolution of a Crisis in Public.

As the noble Lord, Lord Desai, said, it was a pity that the noble Lord, Lord Skidelsky, was not here in this debate, as he above all on these occasions has identified the strategy that a coalition Government pursued 90 years ago in the face of Public Crisis over finances.