22 APRIL 1938, Page 3

Even if the Labour executive's manifesto had not been issued

there would have been no prospect of an immediate electoral alliance between the parties opposed to the present Administration. Hatchets are not so easily buried. In British politics fresh alignments have almost always come about suddenly, as the result of new and startling circum- stances and not in consequence of careful calculations of electoral chances. Nevertheless, the present trend of opinion in the Labour and Liberal parties is a matter of importance. For the first time since the National Government was formed conditions are such as to make an alternative combination at least possible. If there were a breakaway of any size from the ranks of Government supporters it would be more than a possibility.