MACGAITSKELLISM
SIR,—The parallels between the leaders of the Con- servative and Labour Parties are striking and disturb- ing. There is the same smugness in the general social life of the country, the same selfish preoccupation with our own affairs, the shallow indifference to the problems of others. . . . Finally, there is the appall- ing defence fiasco of the Macmillan Government, matched only by the follies of the Gaitskell era.
With some token adjustments of the material, Mr. Desmond Donnelly's irritating and unhistorical com- parison between Mr. Macmillan and Mr. Baldwin is transformed into a pungent political thesis—'Mac- Gaitskellism.' One hardly expects this great work to emanate from Mr. Donnelly's head, because, of course, he himself has figured prominently in the de- velopment of this contemporary political movement.
If I had to assess 'MacGaitskellism,' I could think of no more suitable words than those of Mr. Churchill in 1936. `So they [Mr. Macmillan and Mr. Gaitskell] go on in strange paradox, decided only to be undecided, resolved to be irresolute, adamant for drift, solid for fluidity, all powerful to be im- potent.'—Yours faithfully,
CHRISTOPHER HOSKINS
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