The Elliots are in low spirits. Her position is better than his. Yet, Elliot himself also admits – contrary to the official version – that the ‘democracies’ suffered a defeat in Munich and that the main task now is to avert the recurrence of similar or even worse defeats in future. But how is this to be done? Here Elliot falls silent and throws up his arms. For he is not a student after all, but a member of the Cabinet, and he does not want to spoil his career.

A curious detail. Speaking about the lack of contact between the USSR and Britain during the [Czechoslovak] crisis (a lack which he fully acknowledges), Elliot offered the following explanation both of this fact and of the general chill in Anglo-Soviet relations of late: ‘Let’s be frank. One thought weighed upon the minds of the members of the Cabinet and their supporters throughout the crisis: the Bolsheviks want to set Britain and Germany at loggerheads while keeping themselves out of the way, and then, at a certain moment, when both sides grow weaker, to interfere and engineer a world revolution. I can believe that Moscow might have entertained such a thought. Probably you also feared that we wished to set you and Germany at loggerheads and to gain by it ourselves. Distrust on one side bred distrust on the other. As a result, it was Hitler who won.’

Reasoning in this way, Elliot comes to the conclusion that the recovery of trust between London and Moscow is a prerequisite both for the strengthening of Anglo-Soviet cooperation and for an effective response to German aggression. But how is this to be achieved? Here, Elliot once again becomes obscure and vague.

Elliot is essentially right: the heart of the matter lies in the class prejudice that the English bourgeoisie cannot get rid of, even for the sake of saving the Empire.