No consent, no entry
Sir: In your article' No consent, no entry' (November 6), you made no reference to the large pro-Market vote in the House of Lords. This vote seems to me important and significant. Though it does not
issue, it public opinion on the it does represent the judgement on a vitally important constitutional issue of a well-informed body of men and women, many of whom owe no allegiance to any political party or to any official party policy, and all of Whom are unhampered in making their decision by any obligation to constituents or urge to keep their seats in Parliament. The vote is thus significant as the vote of a body of men and women who have based their judgements on, the merits of the case as they See it.
Parliament is made up of to Houses and though, as you write, the pro-Market majority in the Commons was a very evanescent and peculiar one, I think that the large pro-Market majority in both
Houses makes it absolutely clear that the verdict of Parliament as a whole is for entry.
Though I am a convinced antimarketeer, I think that we antimarketeers must accept this fact and recognise that the fight in Parliament has been lost. But that in my view makes it all the more necessary to continue the fight with vigour throughout the count y at meetings and in the press, since the vote in neither House for different reasons can be said to represent public opinion.
The large pro-Market vote in the Lords is significant for another reason. It emphasises the deep division of the Labour party, I have not seen an analysis of the voting in the Lords (and should be very interested to see one in your columns) but the very large proMarket majority indicates that a large number of Labour peers voted with Lord George-Brown for entry. These cannot be disciplined and made to toe the line, so that they remain permanent rebels ' and will presumably vote for all the consequential Market legislation in the coming months. That means (1) that the pro-marketeers con confidently count on ratification of all this legislation in the Lords and (2) that Mr Wilson will find it impossible to get any real unity in his party.
Christopher Masterman Homefield, North Bovey, Devon
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