“Not really, Prime Minister, although that is how it might appear to an outsider and how it will doubtless be interpreted outside the Empire. In fact, what they have done is recognized the Government-in-Exile based in Ottawa as being the legitimate government of Great Britain and rejected your own claim to legitimate authority as being based of a usurpation of power. Therefore, since your government is not recognized as being of legitimate authority, it is not a part of the Commonwealth. Great Britain is still in the Commonwealth, it is just that the government headed by you is not.”
The shade of deep crimson that dominated Halifax’s face darkened still further. Bridges could see the veins pulsing on his forehead. “This is an insult; a personal insult. They will be made to pay for this. And His Majesty, what of his part in this? How dare he interfere in the running of the Empire this way?”
“Well, technically, and without putting too fine a point on it, it is his Empire. What is more, the Daventry Message could easily be interpreted as advising the Dominions that they were still subject to the authority of the Cabinet in London. If we assume that the reference to Col/Dom is intended only to identify the Governors of the Colonies and Dominions, then the only Cabinet with a general purview is London. The problem there is that rather defeats the whole purpose of the statement when in context. Obviously this is the interpretation that is preferred here and now, and the text of the message was modified in just that way when we repeated the transmission at midnight. Unfortunately, and against my advice, Central Office rather over egged their pudding by making several other changes to the original. As a result, that midnight retransmission is already known as the ‘Halifax Revision’ and nobody accepts it. It didn’t help its credibility that the BBC sent it in plain language.”
The incoherent anger of Lord Halifax’s face was replaced by suspicion. Ah, the second stage, Bridges thought. Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. The first stage is rage at opposition and the second is intense suspicion of anything that may seem to be opposition. The third stage will be preemptive retaliation against those identified in the second phase. “Might I suggest, Prime Minister, that much may be gained now by a show of magnanimity. The actions taken by the Dominions are as much the result of hurt feelings and offended pride as anything else. A generous gesture, a conciliatory address, all will go far to soothe the inflamed situation and quiet the sounds of anger. Think of the Dominions as children who consider themselves unfairly treated and have stormed off to sulk in private. A calm word and generous gesture are the more effective in resolving the situation, while harsh words and actions will but inflame passions still further. Our attitude should be one of addressing them ‘in sorrow, not anger’.”
“You exceed your remit, Sir Edward. This is a matter for the Foreign and Dom/Col Offices and I might say Mister Butler and I are in complete agreement. If we tolerate any dissension from the Dominions, it will strike at the very basis of the Empire. They must be brought to heel, and quickly. They will be shown the rod, Sir Edward, and that will put an end to their pretensions.”
Bridges sighed inaudibly and felt the weight upon his soul increase. Every day that passed with him here in this building made leaving to join the slowly-increasing band of exiles in Canada that much more difficult. For a man who had the depth of experience in Empire affairs that Halifax had, he showed remarkably little understanding of how the administration of the Empire worked. That fact alone made Bridges’ leaving so much harder. It would be irresponsible, a betrayal almost equal to that made by Halifax himself, to depart and leave the conduct of affairs in the hands of a man so manifestly unready to manage them. Bridges knew he would have to stay, simply to try and ameliorate the worst of the disaster that was slowly and steadily opening in front of him.
“And which rod do you presume to show them, Prime Minister?”
“Trade, of course.” Halifax’s irritation was painfully obvious. “The whole Imperial system has been tailored around Britain’s import demands. Without the market represented by our demand for raw materials, the Commonwealth will collapse economically. We have some recourse to external supplies, but the Dominions depend on favorable British trade concessions to underpin their economy. If we shift the direction of our trade patterns to favor other suppliers, they will find it is a cold and lonely world out there. When we cut their currencies off from the sterling pool, they will learn just how worthless they are on the international market.”
“I think you mean to say how worthless their currencies are.” Bridges was horrified at what he was hearing and a cold knot of fear was beginning to tighten in his stomach. “Prime Minister, I must implore you. Think carefully upon what you propose. A trade war with the Commonwealth countries will achieve nothing except the destruction of us all. We have an opportunity here to offer a carrot to the Dominions, one that they will find very difficult to resist. We make them the offer of continuing trade relations on the existing terms and we gain the raw materials we need to revert to a peacetime economy. That leaves them with the decision of whether they wish a return to normality also; the impending collapse of their economies will concentrate their minds wonderfully. They will have no realistic choice other than to recognize the existing state of affairs. The Commonwealth may not be happy with the state of affairs here but it needs the trade too badly to let that get in the way. Once the breach is healed and the present unpleasantness forgotten, the relations between London and the Dominions will be as they always were, to the great benefit of us all.”
Bridges paused, getting the distinct feeling that if looks could kill, he would be stretched out dead on the carpet. Halifax was glaring at him. The problem was that Bridges was sure he had to keep going, not just for the wider good of the Empire, but in the narrower interests of Britain itself. His sleep had been haunted by a ghastly vision of the future; one in which famine had struck Great Britain. It had started when the vicar at his local church had given a sermon based around the parable of the seven years of fat and the seven of lean. From then on, Bridges had seen himself walking down empty streets of British cities, the last survivor of a British nation that had ended through starvation. He shook himself, trying to forget the images that sometimes seemed drawn from a Lovecraft story.
“There is another matter to consider, Prime Minister. That is of our forces abroad. Many of them have cast their lot in with the Dominion Governments and take their orders from them. In doing so, they quote the Daventry Message as authorization from the Crown for their actions.”
“Then let the Crown pay them.” Halifax strode angrily backwards and forwards, his whole body twitching with anger. “Cut them off. If they do not serve this country, then this country should no longer pay them.”
“There is a problem with that, Prime Minister. Some of the serving personnel have deferred portions of their pay to be held as savings against their retirement. The Government also pays a portion, the allotment, of the pay due to personnel on foreign postings to their families here in Britain. To terminate the allotment would leave those families destitute.”