The Maurice Debate was a debate in the British House of Commons which took place on 9 May 1918. It was tabled in response to the publication of a letter in The Times newspaper the day before [1] from Major-General Sir Frederick Maurice, who had recently been removed as Director of Military Operations. [2] Maurice's letter also appeared in The Morning Post, the Daily Chronicle and Daily News. [3]
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In his letter, Maurice claimed that ministers in the coalition government of Prime Minister David Lloyd George and Unionist Party leader Andrew Bonar Law, had deliberately provided false information to Parliament about the strength of British troops on the Western Front in order to cover up the fact that the number of British troops there had been reduced following Lloyd George's decision (against military advice) to send additional forces to Palestine. [4] In his letter he accused both Bonar Law and Lloyd George of misleading the House.[5]
The letter provoked serious concern both on the substantive issue of the right levels of manpower on the Western Front and their adequate support and because of the allegation that MPs had been misled. [6] Former prime minister and Liberal leader H H Asquith tabled a private notice question and Bonar Law for the government offered to establish a Court of Honour consisting of two judges to look into the matter but Asquith demanded a Select Committee to inquire into the allegations and pressed for a Parliamentary debate.
In the debate Lloyd George was attacked by Asquith, although on the arguments put forward in the House, Lloyd George was judged to have demolished the charges Maurice had laid against him. One commentator, a former Liberal MP, noted that, “....at the time it appeared that Lloyd George had completely routed his critics.” [7] Lloyd George even went on the attack himself pointing out that Maurice’s letter constituted a breach of military discipline. [8] Asquith’s performance in the debate has been judged as dry, formal and pedantic. According to his biographer, “...[T]here was no sense of a great Parliamentary occasion about his speech. He had chosen a minor key and he had played it without his usual sureness of touch.” [9]
Lloyd George on the other hand was direct and combative. He treated the issue as if it were a vote of confidence in the government and refuted Maurice's charges in a powerful, if misleading speech, based on doubtful material. [10] Parliament had no desire to displace the government and in the vote on the debate the House of Commons divided in support of the Government by 295 votes to 108. One historian of the Liberal Party has commented that this was a larger majority than had appeared likely. [11]
The Times newspaper reported that as a result of the debate it now sensed the existence of an organised opposition. [12] This was not the first time that Liberals had voted against the government but it was the first time that Asquith had led the opposition from the front. [13] Thoughts about formalising the Coalition Liberals into a distinct party group now began to take shape. The beginnings of separate Lloyd Georgeite Liberal constituency organisations began to appear [14] In the Summer of 1918 there were talks between Lloyd George’s Chief Whip, Freddie Guest and the Conservatives guaranteeing Coalition backing for 150 Liberal MPs in the next general election. [15] This was the birth of the coalition coupon and the formal divide in Liberal ranks which took place at the 1918 general election.
The Maurice debate may not have been the identifying factor for those Liberals granted or denied the coalition coupon at the 1918 general election but the personal rift between Lloyd George and Asquith was deepened by it. The disunity in the Liberal Party was transparent for all to see, to the clear electoral detriment of the party. By 1924 the Liberal Party had been reduced in Parliament to 40 seats and was never again able to form a government in its own right.