The Governor-General, Herbert Huddleston, granted us every concession. I said to him: "But I regret that by signing the protocol, you have taken with your left hand what you gave us with your right." He replied: "The protocol does not change the status or administration of Sudan; it merely confirms an existing situation." I said to him: "And sovereignty?" He said: "This is a legal term with different meanings." He added that the protocol was a barrier to the word sovereignty and tried to evade what I said, but I stuck to my point of view and my objection to the protocol, saying that the subjugation of Sudan to the Egyptian crown means placing Sudan's sovereignty in Egypt's hands, which is what we resist. I explained to him the dangers arising from that situation and clarified that self-determination requires the necessary freedom to choose, and this freedom is absent when Sudan is subjected to the Egyptian crown, because the call for independence would then be an act against the law, a revolt against the crown, and rebellion against the king.

Mr. Attlee, in the face of these arguments I presented and the approach I took in expressing my opinion – "gentle without being weak and strong without being violent" – could only surrender, but he did not explicitly declare his surrender despite my insistence, nor did the Governor-General of Sudan. At that moment, I knew I had triumphed over Sidqi – and Bevin. I had exposed their agreement, which they had signed with their initials.

My conviction in this was confirmed by their subsequent disagreement over the interpretation of the protocol. Sidqi said that it grants Sudanese self-determination only within the framework of union with Egypt, while Bevin and Attlee told him, "You lied."

I did not wish to leave London before meeting Mr. Bevin, who was visiting America. I knew he was the most powerful figure in Attlee's government and had more influence than him. I feared that if I did not meet him, he would influence Attlee and persuade him to abandon what he had committed to me. "A believer is not stung from the same hole twice." Therefore, it was imperative for me to remain in London until the giant who wished to place my country under the Egyptian crown returned, and his wish was thwarted.

I stayed in London for twenty days. The weather was biting cold, and my health was poor, but my consolation was that I would save my country from the lion's claws and achieve the hopes to which I had dedicated my life: independence and sovereignty for Sudan.