POSITION STILL UNCERTAIN

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 70, Issue 116, 1 March 1950, Page 5

POSITION STILL UNCERTAIN

POLITICAL FATE OF BRITAIN

ATTITUDE OF RANK AND FILE

I N.Z.P. A.—Copyright!

LONDON, Feb. 28.

“The picture of Britain's immediate poEtical future is stiil completely unpredictable,” says Reuter’s poEtical correspondent. “The Government’s capacity to carry on indefinitely with its minute majority may hinge largely on the mood of the rank and file, whom the leaders will meet behind closed doors to-morrow to consider the election aftermath.

“Observers think the Government may take the view that its first duty to its following is to remain in office. Its task will’ be to satisfy its party generally. That this can be done without abandoning the Socialist principles remains in doubt. Much will depend upon the still unknown reactions of the Minister of Health (Mr Aneurin Bevan).” As a result of Conservative and Liberal successes in electorates in Northern Scotland, the Labour Party’s overall Majority in the House of Commons has been reduced to seven. The state of the parties (excluding the. Speaker) now is: Labour Party, 315 seats; Conservative Party, 296; Liberal Party, 9;; Irish Nationalists, 2; and Independent Liberal, 1. The final result of the elections will come from the Moss Side division of Manchester, where polling will be held on March 9. - • \ - The tactics of the Conservative Opposition will be discussed at a meeting •pf the Conservatives’ shadow Cabinet, called for to-day by Mr Churchill. Difficult To Continue “To maintain the Socialist Government in office with a majority of seven only is difficult,” says the political correspondent of the “Daily Express.” “To keep labour quiet under wage freezing, which is the cornerstone of the Socialist policy, is an even more hazardous project. “Therefore, the nomination of his Labour Minister becomes Mr Attlee’s biggest The present Minister, Mr George Isaacs, has had an unhappy record. He is regarded as being too weak a figure under to-day’s x conditions. ' “Mr Attlee’s choice is Mr Ernest Bevin, but Mr Bevin’s health stands in‘ the way. Mr Attlee will therefore look .to Mr Aneurin Bevan, who is a strong Minister and would be acceptable to the Trades Union Congress.” The Lord President of the Council (Mr Herbert Morrison) told a meeting at the Labour Party’s jubilee celebrations that the Socialists would “be wise to prepare for another election soon rather than later.” Mr Morrison, discussing the election results and Labour prospects, said that, subject to the people being wise and sensible in the meantime, it was a fair assumption that ■ the Conservatives had polled their maximum. The British electorate had the habit of knowing what it wanted, and the habit of overdoing getting what it wanted. In 1931 it . wanted the Conservatives, but it exaggerated the Conservative majority and . the Labour defeat. This time, he thought, it wanted Labour back, but—to use the language of printing—it said so in italics instead of Roman and, as a result, it got a tighter situation than it meant to have. “The Government’s programme for the new session will be stream-lined to avoid a crisis which would inevitably lead to another General Election,” says the British Labour Party’s newspaper, the “Daily Herald.” “Sharply controversial legislation will ndt be introduced, but the Government has no intention of abandoning its principles merely to, remain in office.

.“Much will “depend on the action taken by the Tories and the Liberals. No bargains are likely to be struck among the three parties, but unofficial soundings may be taken.”