ABSTRACT
On 28 May 1937 Neville Chamberlain succeeded Baldwin as Prime Minister. The Government continued to call itself ‘National’ although by this time there was nothing to distinguish the non-Conservative members from the rest. Limited liability had not yet been explicitly declared the basis of British policy, but the Government was heading in that direction. Limited liability was adopted as the formula governing future defence planning. Duff Cooper, who had consistently opposed the concept of limited liability, had already been moved to the Admiralty. There was greater opposition when Hore-Belisha tackled basic Army policy, especially the difficult question of the role of the Army. By the end of 1937 then, the Government, under Chamberlain's firm hand, was committed to a policy of limited liability on land, despite the fact that its military and diplomatic advisers had warned against the effects of such a policy on Britain's relations with potential allies.
