Beneath the Harrow
THE result of the Harrow .by-election. cheering though it was to the Liberals, does not really alter their position. The earlier trend to push Labour into third place in Tory constituencies continues, but, as Mr. Macleod unkindly pointed out, politics awards no second prize, and there is no convincing evidence of the Liberals' ability to win a seat, except in a handful of constituen- cies. But this can be small consolation to Labour. The Harrow electors' verdict may have been in- dependent of what happened to Clause 4, but they were undoubtedly influenced by the wa}it happened : the controversy- began by puzzling. and has ended by boring, the uncommitted.
The newspapers disagreed on whether the final settlement could be classed as a victory or a defeat for' Mr. Gaitskell—or.a draw; but it maY not matter, tor the way things are going he will eventually nave no real party either to lead or he rejected by. And for this he must accept much of the responsibility. He had every reason for want- ing to purge Labour of its unpopular nationalisa- tion trade mark, when 'the general election re- vealed just how unpopular it was; and he had the choice either of . pretending Clause 4 did not matter or of repealing it-- at the cost, perhaps. ot shedding the party's I.eft, He has now made the worst of all possible N% odds by retaining he Clause but trying to bury it under a shower of political cod phrases. This may temporarily save the party's unity: but unless the Conservatives find some way to sink their own dream-boat. it will soon 'start losing Labour members their supporters-, ancl their clepti.:its.
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