Liberals' Prospects
SIR,—I am not a regular reader of the Spectator. Recently the advertise- ment for the Spectator in the Manchester Guardian caught my eye. I read there that the Spectator would assist its readers "to cast their votes for Labour or Conservative in full knowledge of what the victory of one or the other may mean to•the country." My immediate reaction was to wonder why the Spectator would not acquaint its readers with facts concerning the Liberal Party and what a Liberal victory would mean to the country (I should add that I am a confirmed Liberal, but by no means an old Liberal—I am only 27 years of age).
By a coincidence a copy of the Spectator of January 13th has fallen into my hands. In the article Election Issues I read The Liberals have no possible prospect of forming the next Government," but no solid reason was given to support this statement. Surely any truly independent and non-party journal should primarily consider whether any particular party's programme and policy would be good for the country and not whether that party is in a position to form a govern- ment. I believe that the main reason why the Liberal Party is now the smallest of our three main parties is that there is an attitude of mind which argues that, as the Liberal Party is a small party, its programme and policy are not worth consideration. Independent newspapers and journals are frequently stressing the point that the electorate must soon choose between Conservatism and Socialism, with the result that a majority of the electorate do not even stop to consider whether or not a return to Liberalism would be good for this country of ours. I do not claim that a return to Liberalism would solve all our economic difficulties within a year or two, but even if the Liberals had a programme that would do that and the leading economists of the country agreed that the Liberal programme would quickly get us out of our economic mess, I believe that this current attitude of mind of refusing tb consider the Liberal programme would prevent the return of the Liberals to power in the House of Commons. The Liberals will have over 400 candidates in the field at the General Election, and while I admit that the chances of their forming the next Government are not as good as the chances of either of the other main parties, the fact remains that they do have a chance ; but that chance is being reduced by any independent journal which encourages the "choose between Tory and Socialist" attitude.
By refusing to state the Liberal point of view in your journal, you are assuming that the country wants to decide between Conservatism and Socialism, and definitely does not want to return to Liberalism. If the electorate does not know what Liberalism has to offer, how can they give it due consideration ? Perhaps the country wants to return to Liberalism—perhaps not ; but this is for the electorate to decide on February 23rd and not for the Spectator to decide now.
I shall be following the discussions in the Spectator for the next few weeks and I hope I shall read there your views on this matter. Con- demn the Liberal programme if you like, but please do not ignore it.— [The Liberal election programme has not been issued yet. When it is it will be discussed.—ED., Spectator.]
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