Chamberlain called for a realistic assessment of the situation. Although, in principle, Halifax was right to say that Britain should consider decent terms in the unlikely event that they were offered, but he did not believe that an approach to Mussolini would produce such an offer. He again urged caution when replying to Reynaud in case France capitulated immediately and it would be unwise to give them any pretext for doing so. The key to the current problem was phrasing the reply so that France would not see it as a complete rejection of their proposal, only that now was not the right time to be doing it. The war cabinet expressed general agreement with his views.