A Spectator's Notebook
'GREAT BRITAIN does not feel the loss of India because she gave India her independence of her own free will. But tomorrow she will feel the loss of Cyprus, because she will have the memory of deporting the Archbishop.' The argument is quoted by Ray- mond Aron, the Figaro columnist, in a study of the Algerian problem which has just been pub- lished in France; and it seems to me that in groping towards a solution of the Algerian prob- lem he has over-simplified what he believes to be the liberal viewpoint. It is not what Britons feel that matters; few of us really care now whether, say, Ireland is in or out of the Commonwealth, though within living memory whether she was in or out of the United Kingdom was the burning political question of the day. Few Britons—even those who now support the Government's policy in Cyprus—would feel that island's loss; in fact, few would even remember it had been British ten years after it had gained its independence. It is what Algerians, or Indians, or Cypriots will feel that matters: because in such cases the damage done by past repressive policies can never wholly be undone. That is why I am hoping that the Commonwealth Prime Ministers will not hesitate to insist that Cyprus is considered, officially or unofficially; the reputation of the Commonwealth, as well as of the British Govern- ment, may depend on the Government's ability to reverse its recent policies, and to seek a solution to the Cyprus problem, instead of deliberately working to make a solution impossible. I know there are numerous other and more important subjects to be dealt with; but 1 hope that Cyprus will not be entirely forgotten.
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