Spectator's Notebook
MR. GEORGE BROwN will be arriving in Washington only a few days after Mr. Harold Wilson's first encounter with President Kennedy. This is no doubt a mere quirk of co- incidence. But isn't there something about it that expresses the strange relationship between the Labour Party's new leader and his deputy, with Mr. Brown playing the role of watchdog for the policies Hugh Gaitskell stood for? Mr. Wilson will have some explaining to do in the White House. After all, it is only two and a half years since he challenged Mr. Gaitskell for the leadership of his party on the grounds that he was not a neutralist himself but, because the Labour Party conference appeared to be, he was quite ready to represent the spirit of the con- ference. In view of this loyal attachment to con- ference decisions, what will Mr. Wilson tell the President about the future of the American Polaris base at Holy Loch under a Labour Government? And what of the Nassau agree- ment, which, according to Mr. Denis Healey (Mr. Wilson's chosen spokesman), Labour will repudiate? What of the lack of confidence in the British Labour Party's policy created in the United States by Mr. Wilson's anti-German noises and loose talk of recognising East Ger- many? In fairness to him, it could be that his record over recent years is due mainly to his un- familiarity with the harsh issues of foreign policy. On the other hand, he may actually have meant what he has said. In which case, Mr. George Brown is going to have his work cut out to maintain the store of American goodwill that was part of Mr. Gaitskell's great achievement.
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