22 FEBRUARY 1957, Page 7

1 Shepilov is needed to direct propaganda, the need s

certainly exists. That disaffection has gone

A Spectator's Notebook

THE GIANT-KILLING Bournemouth football team have a star player called 011ie Norris, otherwise known as 'Narker.' Apparently Norris is in no way a dirty player, but some of his antics on the field seem to go rather beyond the nor- mally accepted canons of behaviour, and according to his manager last Saturday 'he jumped the whistle once or twice.' Mr. Norris ought to be a member of the Bournemouth East Conserva- tive Association—which has just chosen a Prospective candidate because it resents the present Member's (Mr. Nigel Nicolson) opposi- tion to the Government over Suez. (There was, too, an earlier disagreement between them about hanging.) Those who believe—unlike the Bourne- mouth Conservative Association—that MPs should not automatically follow their leader must also believe that constituency associations have the right to change their MP. And if shortly before the next election Bournemouth had de- cided to adopt a less liberal-minded candidate nobody could have objected, or at any rate been surprised. But Bournemouth has refused Mr. Nicolson's suggestion, which was coupled with a promise not to stand as an Independent candidate, that a decision should be postponed for a year or Iwo, and has named as prospective candidate Major Friend. Major Friend may be assessed by his remark that 'We must have the moral fibre here at home to maintain law and order in our Possessions, without which we face extinction by Younger nations.'