England hesitated for a few days on this matter.
Withdrawing from its colonial hold over Malta is no small matter, the Minister of Military Supplies cannot decide on it alone; it requires parliamentary approval.
This was originally a "humiliation" for England, being the world's foremost power, it was unlikely from a standpoint of interests or prestige to approve the withdrawal, and the Minister of Military Supplies didn't even have the courage to bring it up in parliament.
Yet the result was beyond the Minister's expectations; the parliamentarians expressed their views under a suppressed atmosphere:
"If it were anyone else or any other country, we might oppose it. But this is Shire, it's France. Look at the map, once we engage in conflict with France, they are fully capable of blockading the Gibraltar Strait; our fleet won't be able to reach Malta."
"Yes, that is France; we cannot handle both the Germans and France simultaneously."
