Mr. Cluse Speaks Up

Only three times in 20 years has mild-mannered Sampson Cluse, Labor M.P. for South Islington, emerged from Parliament's back-bench obscurity and made a speech. His first was the maiden speech which tradition demands of all M.P.s. His second was when he protested against the means test for those on the dole. Last week Cluse spoke again.

There was no oratory in the few simple words he said. There was no need for it. Parliament had just heard Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden read a joint declaration by the U.S., Britain and nine other nations deploring and protesting the "bestial policy of cold-blooded extermination" of the millions of Jews trapped behind the walls of Hitler's Europe. Eden had said: "Members can be sure that we will do whatever we can to alleviate these horrors, but at this stage it must inevitably be slight."

As the 200 M.P.s sat silent and ill at ease because there was nothing more to be said, Sampson Cluse rose and cleared his throat. Then, in a quiet voice, he asked the Speaker whether all members should not rise and pay silent testimony to their horror and their determination to defeat Hitler. The Speaker ruled that the suggestion was unprecedented but that the members could rise voluntarily.

"They all got up," said Sampson Cluse later. "In a moment or two everyone was standing. It was a great thing. They all came and shook me by the hand afterward."

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