 Moyle continued to act as Attlee's Parliamentary Private Secretary when Labour went into opposition after the 1951 general election, and was appointed a Commander of Order of the British Empire (CBE) in Attlee's resignation honours list.In July 1952 Moyle insisted that civil defence, even in the nuclear age, should not be made into a disciplined force, but instead find its own level of discipline as in the Second World War.In November 1953 he came top of the ballot for Private Member's Bills, and chose the subject of humane slaughter of horses.