1 MARCH 1935, Page 3

The Labour Party arc getting very " touchy " because

so little attention is paid to the contributions of their spokesmen on the India Bill. The reason is that their speeches have so little relation to actuality. Mr. Lens- bury, for instance, defending the extraordinary attitude of his Party in voting with the Diehards, stated that " if we had our way and had the power, we should throw out the Bill and consult British India, in the same way as the Government are consulting the Princes." Every- one knows that if Labour were in power, judged by their previous record, they would act almost precisely as the Government has acted, and members get very tired of these speeches which can only mislead Indian opinion and encourage the forces of non-co-operation. The reaction of the Diehards to the wrecking candidature at Norwood is an interesting reflection of their determi- nation not to push their opposition to the Government's India policy to the logical conclusion of a split in the Party. They will have nothing to do with the Randolph Churchill nominee. Most of them disliked the way in which the Wavertree contest developed from the narrow front of a protest against the Government's India policy to an attack against the whole policy of the National Government, and they have made up their minds that it shall not happen again.