The British response to it is a bit better than to the former ‘7 Points’. There are two groups in the British government. The young Conservatives (Eden, Duff Cooper, Elliot and Ormsby-Gore

William Ormsby-Gore, postmaster-general, 1931; first commissioner of works, 1931–36; secretary of state for the colonies, 1936–38; north-east regional commissioner for civil defence, 1939–40.

) and, we are assured, N[eville] Chamberlain, do not believe Hitler, consider his proposals a camouflage by which to prepare better for war, and insist on rapprochement with France (in particular, on immediate talks between the military staffs) and with the USSR. The old Tories (Runciman,

Walter Runciman (1st Viscount Runciman of Doxford), shipping magnate and National Liberal MP, 1931–37; president of the Board of Trade, 1931–37. Headed Chamberlain’s inquiry mission to the Sudeten in 1938–39.

Simon, Hailsham, MacDonald, Cunliffe-Lister, Monsell

Bolton Meredith Eyres-Monsell (1st Viscount Monsell), first lord of the Admiralty, 1931–36.

and others) [sic] uphold a policy of wait and see and semi-isolation, trying to avoid both the fulfilment of their Locarno commitments and a quarrel with Germany. Runciman, my neighbour at the dinner given by the Shipping Chamber of Commerce, outlined this group’s point of view with charming candour. He said to me: ‘In such times as today, it is better to go slow… Perhaps something turns up (sic).’ The very quintessence of British state wisdom! Baldwin, as always, wavers between the two groups.

Almost the entire press favours negotiations, but in a far calmer spirit than before. The Daily Herald, News Chronicle, Manchester Guardian and Daily Express emphasize the unfeasibility of settling European problems without Eastern Europe. That’s progress! The broad mass of the population lives in mortal fear of war, but it is not much interested in foreign policy. Churchill told me today that over the last ten days he has received five times as many letters from his electors about the new soccer rules as about the Rhine crisis. With Bossom,

Alfred Charles Bossom (Baron Bossom), British-born renowned architect of skyscrapers in the USA who was Conservative MP, 1932–59.

the proportion is 500 to 5, and with Harold Nicolson

Harold George Nicolson, Foreign Office official, 1909–29; National Labour MP, 1935–45; parliamentary private secretary to the minister of information, 1940–41.

120 to 4. Quite typical! Labour and the Liberals (except for Lloyd George) are gradually sobering up.

Eden is clearly playing for time. Just today he told Ribbentrop that Hitler’s proposals needed a certain period of ‘calm deliberation’. Then comes Easter, then the elections in France. An interval of a month or a month and a half is guaranteed. In the meantime, Eden hopes to re-educate ‘public opinion’ a little. He is also inclined to take negotiations out of the hands of the Locarno powers and redirect them to the League of Nations.

My personal opinion is that temporary isolation of Germany is a minimum requirement, as is the working out of a ‘peace plan’ (either within the League of Nations or outside it) by the other Europeans powers for the whole continent. This should then be offered to Hitler. Moscow is thinking along the same lines.