On 20 February 1947, the Secretary of State for India, Lord Pethick-Lawrence, prepares the statement that Prime Minister Clement Attlee will make on British policy in India. This statement will communicate the decision by the British government to leave India by June 1948 at the latest, even if an agreement cannot be found between the new leaders. The government sees this as the culmination of the process of ‘self-government’ that has long been applied by the British in India.