21 FEBRUARY 1964, Page 9

No Orchids For Aunty `None the less, and making every

reasonable allowance, Sir Alec Douglas-Home was pitching it rather high when he told the Young Con- servatives that he was asking the country for another ten years of office for the Conservative Party. In doing so he showed little sense of political history. ..

Quoodle a few days ago murmured that per- haps the Conservative Party might have a few months in Opposition in the 1980s—and was almost arraigned for treason. It is comforting to know that even Prime Ministers can sometimes be misreported, and that The Times leaders some- times misfire. Sir Alec in fact asked for a further tenure of office.