Words and Deeds SIR,—Your leading article of October 7 implies
that a recent National Opinion Poll found that over 60 per cent of the population were in favour of the implementation of Part IV of the Prices and Incotnes Act.
I am afraii that this is a misinterpretation of the findings of our survey. In this survey, which was carried out between September 7 and 12, we found that 63 per cent of the electorate regarded the wage freeze as necessary. Further questioning elicited that half of these people thought that the freeze should be made compulsory, and the remaining half thought that it should remain voluntary. The implication, therefore, is that about 30 per cent of the electorate would be in favour of implementing Part IV of the Act and not 60 per cent as you imply.
London EC/ [The implication is not as straightforward as Mr Teer makes out. Over 60 per cent of the electorate regarded the wage freeze as not merely desirable but 'necessary.' The Government's argument—now, although not when the NOP survey was conducted— is that the freeze cannot be maintained without the implementation of Part 1V (which is not, incidentally, exactly the same as making the freeze compulsory). The presumption, therefore, must be that over 60 per cent of the electorate approve the Government's decision over Part IV—even though many of them may prefer the freeze to remain 'voluntary' should that be possible Perhaps NOP would like to conduct a further survey to test this interpretation.—Editor,
SPECTATOR.]
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