In 1912 he was dismayed when Bonar Law, the Conservative leader, dropped tariffs on food as official Conservative policy in order to focus on fighting the Liberal government's Irish Home Rule Bill. Chaplin was an ardent supporter of the Ulster Unionists in their opposition to the Bill during the 1914 crisis, believing that Home Rule would be the first step towards imperial disintegration. Upon the outbreak of the First World War in August 1914, Chaplin supported the stance took by H. H. Asquith and congratulated Margot Asquith on her husband's speech that announced Britain's entry into the conflict.