Aneurin Bevan

In the Suez debate on 5 December 1956, Bevan works through the government's explanations and tests their internal logic before sharpening the attack with ridicule and vivid imagery. His exchanges with intervening MPs show an argument being defended in the chamber, rather than a collection of detachable insults. Look for the movement from chronology to contradiction to moral judgement. It is a distinctive combination of forensic scrutiny and polemic; the strength of the rhetoric still leaves its factual and political claims open to examination.