18 NOVEMBER 1966, Page 4

It is not too soon, therefore, to consider what the

alternatives are for Britain should the present negotiations fail. The harsh truth is that they scarcely exist at all. The Commonwealth alternative is now mani- festly a dead duck : the American alterna- tive has never been—and, as President Johnson has made clear, will never be— born. And as for EFTA, its inadequacy is admitted by all, and most of its members cannot wait to transfer their allegiance to the Community.

There is, in fact, only one alternative