At the Remembrance Day Ceremony yesterday at the Cenotaph, Mr. Noel-Baker told me that the lawyers were still at work trying to find a solution of the problem which they think must follow the forthcoming repeal of the External Relations Act. He had recently sent a memorandum to certain Members of the Cabinet in which he had made the fullest exhortation for some solution to be found. His trouble was that the Ministers concerned were all overwhelmed with work of real importance and of pressing urgency. His recent experience suggested that one of the reasons why State affairs were not always managed as well as they should be, was that the Ministers concerned had far too much to do.

Lord Jowitt, in a dismal aside, informed me that the position of our question was bad: 'My heart, as you know, is as willing as ever, but the legal complications are just damnable'.

As he was leaving the Ceremony (where he had rather conspicuously avoided contact with the Members of the Cabinet) Mr. Churchill approached to say he was glad to see me there again. He went on 'I said a few words in Parliament the other day about your country because I still hope for a united Ireland. You must get those fellows from the North in, though you can't do it by force. There is not, and never was, any bitterness in my heart towards your country'. He then left me to give his farewell greeting to the King.