His maiden speech on 12 February 1946 was not on an anodyne constituency matter as is usual for new MPs, but instead on the Trades Disputes and Trades Unions Bill, reflecting his interest in the subject going back to his student days. He said that the public would still oppose another General Strike, and quoted from Shakespeare's ""Measure for Measure"": "O, it is excellent to have a giant's strength! But it is tyrannous to use it like a giant". The Chamber was almost empty, but he received a letter of congratulations from Harold Macmillan (wrongly addressed to Toby Low, another newly-elected MP who was also a brigadier).