58 THE BRITISH APPROACH TO POLITICS

the "doctrine of collective responsibility"; it exists for the same

reason as the Cabinet itself—that the policies of Departments

affect one another. A First Lord of the Admiralty who pointed

with pride to the size of the Navy could not fairly deny his

responsibility for the taxes imposed by the Chancellor of the

Exchequer. To preserve the idea of unity, the Cabinet generally

refrains from settling disputed questions by a vote; it is the

business of the Prime Minister, after hearing the discussion, to

"take the sense of the meeting" and declare the Government's

policy accordingly. A Cabinet Minister who openly opposes

Government policy will be expected either to withdraw what

he has said or to resign. Opponents of a Government are always

on the look-out for statements by unwary Ministers which

suggest that the Cabinet is not united. In 1932 the "Samuel

Liberals" in the Government disagreed with the tariff policy of

their colleagues. For a time an "agreement to differ" was

observed—an exception to collective responsibility, allowing the

Samuelites to express their disagreement on this one point.

Before long, however, they withdrew from the Government;

and though it was in name a Coalition of several parties, in fact

it was overwhelmingly Conservative.

EFFICIENCY AND POWERS OF THE CABINET.

The Cabinet has been described as the link between Executive
and Legislature. The custom, though not the law of the Con-
stitution, requires that all its members should sit in either the
Lords or Commons. Occasionally a Cabinet Minister will not
be in Parliament, but when this- happens, he will be put up to
fight the first by-election at which he has a chance of victory.
Mr. Ramsay MacDonald continued in the Cabinet after his
defeat at the 1935 Election, but returned to Parliament in 1936.
Sir Henry Slesser became Solicitor-General in the first labour
Government before he had ever sat in Parliament. The Chancellor
of the Exchequer and the Home Secretary are always in the
Commons, and it seems probable that in future this will be