Liberal silence
It has not taken Mr Cyril Smith, the redoubtable Liberal member for Rochdale, long to !zlemonstrate to the press how wrong they were in deciding to cast him in the role of that Current fool — the ludicrous parliamentary figure. There must be very many, not necessarily members of the Liberal Party, who drew hope from his blunt relish in asking his leader, Mr Jeremy Thorpe why the hell the party was saying nothing during the present crisis. Mr Thorpe showed some years ago during the period of his family tragedy that he has the courage to face personal grief and he fully deserves the respect he then won. There is now a great opportunity for the Liberal Party, probably greater than at any time during the past fifty years, to consolidate its state and win in the next general election, very possibly, a pivotal position in the House.
However, Mr Thorpe, whether due to his unfortunate financial involvement with a collapsing bank or not, has chosen this grave moment of national crisis to stay silent and to give no indication that is readily apparent to his potential supporters of Liberal working thoughts and their response to the three-day week (crazed and obsessional?), the mini-budget (inadequate?), Northern Ireland (a declaration ot independence apparently acceptable to the IRA and Messrs Paisley and Craig?), the first year of Britain's membership of the EEC (a Liberal U-turn back to free trade and a negotiated withdrawal?), the coalminers' overtime ban (climb-down and pay-up?), or methods of paying the increased price for Middle East oil (bilateral barter arrangements and bonded debt discounted and guaranteed by future North Sea oil revenue?). Mr Thorpe remains silent not at his personal peril, the Liberal leadership has become lamentably a parson's freehold given the state of Liberal finances, but the peril of losing the allegiance of that welling body of the electorate despairingly waiting for an indication of something better, and a confident aura of innovative strength.
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