Egyptians were convinced that their independence could not be complete without the settlement of the Suez and the Sudan questions and the elimination of the British influence. The concern of the Egyptian in this regard was expressed by the King of Egypt in his speech before the Parliament. He said:
“…the nation had unanimously proclaimed the necessity for the liberation of the Valley, Egypt and Sudan for all fetters on its liberty and independence and that the Government would make resolute and effective efforts to speed up the evacuation of both parts of the Nile Valley and protect its unity under Egyptian Crown.”
However, the task was not that simple, because Britain looked at her relations with Egypt in the context of the regional security of the Middle East, in which Egypt because of her vital strategic location and Suez Canal, occupied an important position.
Therefore, Britain proposed to Egypt an alliance of co-operation between Egypt and the British garrison in the Suez Canal on footing of equality to meet the possible threat from Soviet Union. But the Egyptian leaders did not pay any heed to the proposed alliance, knowing it fully well that the Egyptians people would never consent to the maintenance of foreign troops in Egypt, in any form. The previous experience of the Egyptian with regard to the presence of the British troops on Egyptian soil also deterred them from responding favourably.
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Egyptian leaders showed willingness to co-operate militarily with Britain, but only after Egypt and been evacuated. It was argued that the problem of defence of the Middle East would be better solved by strengthening Egypt. Thus there were fundamental differences in the approach of the two countries. This naturally hampered the revival of good relations between them.
Another obstacle in the way of reaching an agreement with Britain was posed by the Sudan issue. Egyptian leaders asserted that Egypt and Sudan formed one country and the people of the two areas were bound by ties of common origin, language, religion and customs etc. It was Britain after occupation, which had forced the Egyptian Government to withdraw from Sudan.
As such Britain had no valid claim not any responsibility regarding the Sudan. They asserted that the problem of Sudan was a matter between two Arab brothers of the Nile Valley and the British had no legal or moral right to intervene between them.
The British Government refused to accept the contention of Egypt that Egyptians and Sudanese were the same people and had the same destiny. They asserted that the Sudanese people had the right to be free.
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But as the Sudanese people were not as yet ripe for independence they had to be prepared for self-government. In view of these divergent of stands Britain and Egypt on the defence of the Middle East and Sudan, no agreement could be reached between the two powders.
The British made a bid to resolve these issues and submitted proposals suggesting revision of the 1936. Treaty subject to certain conditions. However, their proposals were not acceptable to Egypt.
Therefore, Egypt submitted counter proposals in which it firmly reiterated its position as a basis for resuming negotiations for settlement of the outstanding problems between the two countries. These proposals were not acceptable to Britain because they were incompatible with Britain’s interests as well as international commitments.
After the rejection of Egypt’s earlier proposals the Egyptian Government laid down four principles on the basis of which it was willing to make last attempt to settle differences with Britain. These four Principles were:
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(1) The unity of Egypt and Sudan under the Egyptian Crown.
(2) Self- government for the Sudanese within the framework of the unity in two years.
(3) Withdrawal of British forces and British officials from Sudan and termination of the present regime in Sudan after two years.
(4) The establishment of a Tripartite Commission. But the British Ambassador Ralph Stevenson firmly ruled out the Egyptian demand for evacuation. British officials tried to justify their occupation of Egypt on the ground of the existence of a threat to the world peace.