A Spectator's Notebook HE budding Conservative politicians of the I
Bow Group have had a sharp lesson in the inconveniences of democracy. The Fabian Society's policy towards its publications is that the executive decides what shall be printed—and no nonsense. The Bow Group, by leaving the decision to its members as a body, has landed itself in acute embarrassment over its anti- Common Market pamphlet No Tame or Minor Role, which directly contradicts its previous publication Britain into Europe. Under the Bow Group's constitution any member can apply to the research committee to set up a study group on a particular subject and providing the subject is serious it is difficult for the. request to be refused. Once the report has been produced it is re-submitted to the research committee who may reject it but only on the grounds of style and general competence. The decision to publish is nominally taken by the whole Bow Group (800 strong) at a special meeting, though in practice there are seldom more than twenty at any such meeting.
Previous page
