The Labour Party saw an opportunity to cripple the ruling Conservatives and called for a vote in the House of Commons to censure the Churchill government, based on the British government's "failure to secure effective consultation" from the U.S. beforehand (The Minister of Defence, Lord Harold Alexander, had been in Korea when Clark first approved the FEAF plan but had left Korea before the JCS input). The government barely survived the vote after U.S. Secretary of State Dean Acheson publicly took the blame, stating the U.S. was at fault for not consulting the British "as a courtesy", although the price for this stance was undercutting Clark and the Panmunjom negotiators. Naval historian James Field commented that cooperation between the services was much smoother than between the allies.