Suez Crisis participated in later years, since Canada had spearheaded the idea of a neutral force). By 24 April 1957 the canal was fully reopened to shipping. Egyptian sovereignty and ownership of the canal had been confirmed by the United States and the United Nations. In retirement, Anthony Eden, the British Prime Minister at the time, maintained that the military response had prevented a much larger war in the Middle East. Israel had been expecting an Egyptian invasion in either March or April 1957, as well as a Soviet invasion of Syria. The crisis may also have hastened decolonization, as many of
The Prime Minister Was a Spy officials". "The Prime Minister Was a Spy" made the following claims: Tom Frame, Holt's biographer, describes Titcombe and Grey's account as a "complete fabrication". He notes that there is "no corroborative evidence" for most of their claims, as none of the documents referred to in the book were produced. Furthermore, Holt was stridently anti-Communist, the large sums of money he supposedly received were never reflected in his lifestyle, he was highly unlikely to have deserted his wife and children, and the water off of Cheviot Beach was much too shallow for a submarine to submerge. Zara Holt observed that her