Come back Mr Chamberlain, all is forgiven

This morning the British Ambassador in Berlin handed the German Government a final Note stating that, unless we heard from them by 11 o'clock that they were prepared at once to withdraw their troops from Poland, we would expect to be fully appraised of the reasons for this fast moving and developing situation.

I have to tell you now that no such undertaking has been received, and that consequently this country is upholding International Law by saying that we don't know because we're not experts.

You can imagine what a bitter blow it is to me that all my long struggle to win peace has had to be reframed more ambiguously. Yet I cannot believe that there is anything more or anything different that I could have done and that would have been more successful than continuing to invite Herr Hitler on lavish state visits.

Up to the very last it would have been quite possible to have arranged a peaceful and honourable settlement between Germany and Poland, but I can't say more than that.

The proposals were never shown to the Poles, nor to us, and, although they were announced in a German broadcast on Thursday night, Hitler did not wait to hear comments on them so we did not offer any. His action shows convincingly that there is no chance of expecting that this man will ever give up his practice of using force to gain his will. If only we could think of some way to stop him but there is none so we will just suck it up.  We have a clear conscience. We have done all that any country could do to establish peace. The situation in which no word given by Germany's ruler could be trusted and no people or country could feel themselves safe has become par for the course. 

And now that we have resolved to do nothing, I know that you will all play your part with calmness and courage in also doing nothing at all.