Memorial statue to Prime Minister David Lloyd George in Parliament Square, London, United Kingdom. © 2013 John M. Shea
"As all delay is fatal in war, I place my office without further parley at your disposal. . . .As I am fully conscious of the importance of preserving national unity, I propose to give your Government complete support in the vigorous prosecution of the war; but unity without action is nothing but futile carnage, and I cannot be responsible for that. Vigour and vision are the supreme need at this hour."
Excerpts from the resignation letter of Secretary of State for War David Lloyd George to British Prime Minister H.H. Asquith the morning of December 5, 1916, quoted in John Grigg's Lloyd George: From Peace to War 1912–1916. With other resignations, that of Lloyd George brought down the Asquith Government. King George V asked Secretary of State for the Colonies Andrew Bonar Law to form a Government. Law tried to form one that included Asquith, but the latter refused to serve in a government he did not lead. After Law's failure, King George asked Lloyd George who successfully formed the new Government on December 6.
Lloyd George: From Peace to War 1912-1916 by John Grigg, pp. 462–463, copyright © John Grigg 1985, publisher: Harper Collins Publishers, publication date: 1997
1916-12-05, 1916, December, Lloyd George, Asquith
