A Spectator's Notebook
WHEN in this column last week I took the risk of planting an island of assertion in the surging sea of speculation by expressing my firm belief that the resignation of thc Liberal Ministers was " not merely as good as settled, but settled," I was not speaking at random. It has now been stated definitely that the decision to resign was taken on September 8th. But the secret was astonishingly well kept, as the crop of confident newspaper assertions that there' would be no resignations bears witness—and that in spite of the fact that the resigning Ministers had taken quite a number of their colleagues in former Liberal Governments into their confidence, or at any rate discussed the matter with them so frankly as to leave their own decision in no doubt. Future developments will be singularly interesting. There is no question that the Liberal Ministers do intend in all sincerity to give the Govern- ment general support from below the gangway, but they have their own convictions and I predict some plain speaking about disarmament as well as about tariffs at a pretty early date. That, incidentally, would do a lot to pull Liberals in the country together. Per- sonally, I believe - a Liberal tide is flowing—for the moment at any rate—for the silent voter who decides elections wants something to turn to other than Labour when he gets tired of the Conservatives. But Liberalism has missed the tide often enough in history, and I make no long-date prophecies.
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