A SPECTATOR 'S NOTEBOOK
COMPARISON between the Labour and Conservative panels of which, apart from the spet'cial case of Lord Layton, the British delegation to the European Assembly is to consist is instructive, pointing as it does incontrovertibly to the conclusion that the Conservative contingent—Mr. Churchill, Mr. Harold Macmillan, Sir David Maxwell Fyfe, Mr. Boothby, Mr. David Eccles and Sir Ronald Ross—is distinctly the more weighty of the two. Mr. Morrison will, of course, make an excellent leader, but abler back-benchers are omitted from the Labour panel than some of the back-benchers included in it. Three Ministers, Mr. Morrison, Mr. Dalton and Mr. Whiteley, were no doubt regarded as sufficient of a front-bench element ; other- wise the addition of one or two very competent Parliamentary Secretaries might have seemed desirable. Even so the Labour contingent could have been stronger than it is. There may be something in the suggestion it was thought well that certain special sectional interests in the Labour camp should be represented. If that principle is accepted the constitution of the delegation is to some extent explained. But the result is that this country is not send- Ing to Strasbourg quite the strongest delegation it could have sent. however, it is no doubt strong enough. It by no means follows, moreover, that it will speak and vote as a delegation. Discussions at the European' Assembly should not follow strictly national lines. Socialists from different countries may be expected to make common cause, and so quite certainly will such Communists as may be present.
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