19 OCTOBER 1956, Page 17

SECRET POLICE POWERS

SIR,—May I offer one small correction to Mr. Benenson's correction of Mr. Curran?

The resolution I moved at Blackpool to limit the encroachment of secret police was lost, it is true, by 800,000 votes, but this was really not 'contrary to expectation,' once the National Executive had declared themselves unwilling to accept the resolution. The general view was that if we could knock up some two million votes it would be something of a miracle, whereas, in fact, we scored 2,600,000 —far and away the biggest anti-platform vote during the whole conference.

Moreover, the hand-vote taken before the card-vote was called for showed delegates overwhelmingly in our favour; so much so, indeed, that 1 should not have thought Mr. Curran guilty of exaggeration in comparing Mr. Ge' g Strauss's gallant effort on the other

sid ibition in Burton-on- the nd