Chapter 228: The Willing One
There was a saying about speaking of the devil, and although Edward Bridges didn’t know it, he hadn’t been chanting it for long before Norman Brooke arrived at the Cabinet Secretary’s office.
This is quite normal; Whitehall civil servants have to rise above partisan bias in order to act as the lubricant of government. Whitehall civil servants are all gentlemen with no selfishness at all, and naturally they don’t have to avoid anything.
The Cabinet Office was not always right, but it did to a large extent serve the various governments loyally, and in general provided a key check on prime ministers who tried to ignore convention and the Cabinet.
“Much as you say, the Prime Minister has asked for my advice. Unsurprisingly, of course, there was no prior communication, but we came up with a piece.” Norman Brooke had just sat down and seemingly unintentionally divulged what had happened in the Prime Minister’s office and what had transpired.
“Let’s just say that when it comes to the right things, smart people always get the same view.” Edward Bridges gave the other man a look that everyone understood, and as if in confirmation and as if to himself he said, “There shouldn’t be a problem.”
“Out of the objective law that things are universally and universally connected, I can’t say that one hundred percent of it will work. But it should exist according to the objective law.” Norman Brooke said with a serious face, “I also have more faith in the person who said this.”
“Who said that? Little Pete or Gladiton?” Edward Bridges mentioned the names of two famous prime ministers in the history of the British Empire, how could he not remember the quote.
“Something like that, the quote was actually from Lenin.” Norman Brooke gave Edward Bridges an unexpected name.
Edward Bridges nodded, not reacting to the name Lenin in any particular way, but said, “It is the duty of our Cabinet Office to guide the Prime Minister to make the right choices. Look at those impassioned MPs in the Diet, there is no chance that they will be future ministers or even prime ministers.”
“Exactly!” Norman Brooke acknowledged his opponent’s judgment, “They come in all shapes and sizes. It may be an amateur scientist, a philosopher, some horse-racing fan and debauchee, a homeowner, a historian, and a member of a famous general, including the vast majority of mediocrities and a very few geniuses.”
“A Prime Minister and his government who takes office brings with him a range of policies to be implemented, and it is up to the Cabinet Secretary to bring his talents to bear to ensure that the Cabinet Office, the machinery of the state, is working to serve the Prime Minister and his government and to implement the policies.”
Edward Bridges spoke eloquently, “Norman, it’s coming up to you. Your colleagues in Whitehall have always looked up to you, I’ll be looking for a place where the smoke and mirrors go off and do what I’m supposed to be doing, it’s not as if there’s no criticism of you, but just take that level in your own hands.”
“Where it’s not good enough.” Listening to Edward Bridges, these naysayers certainly did not affect him personally, but Norman Brooke was not a Cabinet Secretary for a day, or could not say that things were settled.
Naturally hearing some of the naysayers against himself, he wanted Edward Bridges to speak openly and honestly.
“It’s nothing, it’s the distance of a Prime Minister, in all your work experience, you have maintained a good personal relationship with the ministers who serve as well as the Prime Minister, and some of your colleagues believe that you are too close to these politicians and lack distance.” Edward Bridges crossed his fingers to make a retrospective look and said, “Not like our people ……”
“Of course I’m one of us!” Norman Brooke, with a look of resignation, said in a long drawn out voice, “Who is it that casts such a slur on a gentleman? It is planted, persecuted, and in heaven’s name unspeakably libeled.”
“I certainly approve of you, Norman.” Edward Bridges reached out for a moment’s peace and waited until Norman Brooke had calmed down before saying with objectivity, “As you know, many people in the Establishment, they are not without ideas, and there is nothing logical in this world, and as Cabinet Secretary, I believe that the Cabinet Office has an unquestionable right to lead government departments. ”
“But in some departments, especially the very important ones, they in turn believe that their own departments should hold the Cabinet Office, and long after Sir Maurice had established the Cabinet Office, he handily overcame the Home Office, and after the not-so-glorious days of the Foreign Office, which is at present very tame, the only thing that can’t get around it is the Treasury. ”
“It’s the Treasury …… ” Norman Brooke understood what Edward Bridges meant as soon as he heard it, and was just about to speak when he was stopped by the Cabinet Secretary.
“The Treasury will always be there, unless it’s like the Soviet Union claiming that banknotes are meaningless. I don’t know if the Soviets are right, but it’s certainly not true now. Especially at the moment, our Prime Minister is extremely concerned about the finances, so I wouldn’t recommend knocking the Treasury.”
Cabinet Secretary in fact there is no specific selection criteria, the unspoken rule is just two points, the first point white male, the second point was born in the region of England, meet these two points of civil servants everywhere, naturally a lot of civil servants qualified enough to want to become a most beautiful boy.
Edward Bridges’ words were listened to by Norman Brooke, not for any particular reason, Edward Bridges was not exactly retiring, merely leaving from his position as Cabinet Secretary.
It might be that he would need Edward Bridges’ help at some time in the future.
In the Cabinet Secretary’s office, the two men also discussed how to accomplish their purpose with General Mountbatten. Knighthood, after all, was not a matter to be rushed, not when the King himself was involved.
And there was also the factor of Prime Minister Airdrie to take into account; how the Prime Minister could be made to feel that it was a manifestation of his own authority, rather than being guided by it, had always been the key to the Cabinet Secretary’s work.
Theoretically the Cabinet Secretary had to do everything, but all – to be perceived as the will of the Prime Minister, who himself had done nothing.
Telegram across the ocean to the hot summer subcontinent, not Alan Wilson picky, he was quite dissatisfied with the working environment of the Governor’s Office, hanging in the ceiling of the shed ceiling fan, against the climate of the subcontinent is too reluctant to some.
Thinking about the imminent arrival of Patel, Alan Wilson felt even more reluctant.
Near noon, Patel himself finally arrived late, I don’t know if he went to eat curry, and only thought to come over after eating.
“Honorable Mr. Patel!” Seeing Patel come in, Allen Wilson got up with a smile and said, “First of all, congratulations to Mr. Patel, for the great victory against the colonial government under the many supporters, we are about to have to dust ourselves off and pick an appropriate time to release most of the innocent Brahmins.”
“It’s all thanks to Mr. Allen, if only the English were like Mr. Allen, we might not always have to live a confrontational life.” Patel topped off his oily brain with the same hypocritical greeting that was partly polite.
“Confrontational days are not what we would like to see. It is an important matter that brought Mr. Patel here today.” Alan Wilson took out the official document sent from the mainland and handed it to Patel, while he himself introduced himself on the side, “The Cabinet mission has returned to London and informed the Prime Minister in detail of everything they saw in British India. The biggest problem is still the PML-N and the Congress Party, which are somewhat divided over the future of British India.”
“As Mr. Patel also knows, the British Empire is meant to fully listen to all sides, and while the Prime Minister certainly wants to let go of British India, convincing the members of Congress is a difficult task. Everyone wants to have their say, and everyone is still qualified to have their say, which makes it very difficult to deal with.”
“London wants me to make one trip to London?” Patel, looking at the telegram and listening to Alan Wilson’s complaints, spoke up, “To make a public statement, on behalf of British India, of the position of the Congress Party?”
“Why not? Mr. Patel, the world is watching the future of British India.” Alan Wilson said this trip to London could be significant, “It is very important who represents the image of British India. The last time the Round Table went to London, it was Mr. Gandhi.”
Round tables were held three times, with the King of England holding the first round table on India in London. It was attended by fifty-eight representatives of various Indian princes and factions. Ali Jinnah led a delegation from the PML-N, and the then Congress Party boycotted the meeting.
In desperation, the local Viceroyalty released Gandhi, who attended the conference as the sole representative of the Congress Party, where he put forward a demand for granting India the status of an autonomous Dominion, which was unsurprisingly rejected by the British.
Together with differences of opinion on issues such as representation of the Pacifists, the conference remained without agreement.
At that time World War II had not yet broken out and the British Empire was still an unattainable presence for the subcontinent.
But this time London took the initiative to invite the Congress Party to send someone to London, which was again different from the time more than a decade ago in the grand scheme of things. Patel, who had switched his support to the British Empire after his release last time, felt that the time was ripe for India’s independence after the end of the war.
If it had been he himself who had gone to London on behalf of the Congress Party, instead of Nehru, Patel would have been able to come back and, if not sideline Nehru, then be able to achieve a position of equality, rather than being behind Nehru.
Last time it was Gandhi who represented the Congress, this time it was he, Patel, and it was only right that all the glory should go to himself.
“Mr. Patel, the Prime Minister is still waiting for your reply, if it is considered, I will get back to London.” Alan Wilson naturally did not have a penetrating eye to see through Patel’s thoughts, but could still tell through the other party’s life history that the man did want to seize such an opportunity.