In the Throes

By BERNARD LEVIN The question is of some importance, at any rate to the Liberal Party. With the Labour Party tottering from collapse to disintegration (it is now just possible that a 'unilateralist' resolution will be carried at the Conference in October, which would leave the party without either a policy or 11\ leader—for Mr. Gaitskell could hardly stay after such a defeat, as indeed many of the uni- lateralists, more concerned with destroying him than the H-bomb, know only too gleefully well) the chances for the Liberals grow hourly more bright. But it would be a mistake to think of these chances as of the same kind as those they have had, and occasionally taken, over the last few years. Spectacular advances at by-elections are unlikely—if only because for the Liberal candidate to beat the Labour man into third place at by-elections in Tory seats is no longer a spectacular occurrence.

And for once somebody seems to have recog- nised the Liberal predicament for what it is. Some time before the election, it was decided that considerable reorganisation was necessary at Liberal headquarters if the right kind of cam- paign was to be fought when it was over. The first and overriding need was a body small enough, and available enough, to take the kind of everyday decision that must be made more and more if hesitant voters are not to be driven per- manently away by the Liberals' failure to say promptly and decisively where they stand on the various issues of the day as they occur. The Liberal Executive, for instance, meets monthly; it consists of forty members, and the proceedings at it are a perfect example of Parkinson's Cabinet Law (in which the sensible men present, if there are any, begin to pass little notes to one another reading "Lunch with me tomorrow; we'll settle this then".'). The Liberal Council, an even more august body, is even larger and meets even less frequently; both bodies are elected by proceed- ings of unimaginable complexity.

The Standing Committee that resulted from the necessity of bypassing the cumbrous machinery already in existence consists of seven members, under the chairmanship of Mr. Frank Byers. And the first thing it had to decide was whether, in the new dispensation they were preparing. there was any room for a General Director, the post held by Mr. Herbert Harris. Clearly, there was not; there is an argument for a political party having a political dictator, and there is an argument for its having an administrative secretary: but in the Liberal's present circumstances it is obviouslY impossible for them to have at the top of their organisation a post which is an uneasy blend of the two. On the other hand, Mr. Harris's contract appears to have been terminated in a particularly cow-like manner (they could hardly, after all. have expected him to welcome the sack), and with a great deal of not very charming soft-shoe shuffling after it.

After which, the way was clear for reorganisa- tion. A Secretary has been appointed, as has a Local Government Officer (obviously, the next wave of Liberal advance---if there is going to he one at all—will come through the local councils), and the next step is a research department at headquarters, with a research officer in charge of it who is capable not only of finding things out for the party but of telling it about them when he has found them out.

But all this—and there is more to come—has naturally warmed up a good few corns. My late, and never sufficiently lamented, colleague Taper recorded at the 1956 Conference of the Liberal Party a remark dropped by a distinguished dele- gate and parliamentary candidate, which ran. in all its exquisitely brutal simplicity, 'We've got to get rid of that whist-drive lot on the platform.' And indeed they have, as the chairmanship of Sir Arthur Comyns Carr on that melancholy occasion demonstrated. But whist-drivers are warm and comfortable in their canvas armchairs, and reluctant to be got rid of; what is more— much more in a party the size of the Liberal Party--most of them have devoted years to the thankless beating of a tiny track in the wilder- ness. There was a good deal of muttering in the ranks at the selection for seats with good Liberal chances of such newcomers as Mr. KennedY, Mr. Bonham Carter and Mr. Day, to the exclu- sion of those who, in Mr. Jeremy Thorpe's all- too-memorable phrase, 'have kept the faith,; but the first casualty in a party fighting for its life has got to. be sentiment.

'phis second round of the reorganisation struggle resulted in the resignation from the post of Treasurer (he was one of three) of Colonel Lort-Phillips, the Hero of Gloucester. (He didn't actually win Gloucester, but in the Liberal Party in those days you got a ticker-tape parade for saving your deposit.) Ironically, it is precisely men of the Loft-Phillips stamp that can least easily be spared from the party's central direction

both labour costs and site costs, particularly in or near principal towns, have increased. We have no reason to doubt that the cost indica- tions originally given were and are, allowing for the inflationary spiral, soundly based. ' To get the Small House Scheme moving we our- selves approached builders in various parts of the country and asked them to select for construction award designs from the thirty available. All the builders so approached, on the recommendation of the RIBA, are builders of repute. The show houses Which they have put up are marked at prices includ- ing the cost of the site. Most of the show houses are in or near towns on relatively costly sites. What would be the point of encouraging builders to put op award designs—standard-b'earers in good archi- tectural design—on remote sites inaccessible to the general public? Furthermore they are prototypes of, in some cases, 'experimental' designs that but for the Small House Scheme would never have been trans- lated from the architects' drawing boards into three dimensions. Their selling price will decrease through repetition by builders. 'How many people,' asks Mr. Robinson, 'would be prepared to pay £6,250 for a two-bedroom, single- storey house?' Nobody is asking them to do so. The show house in question is based on an award design that projected an optional extension. The show house priced at £6,250, including land, includes the exten- sion. It is in fact a two-floor house with four bed- rooms and two bathrooms. With the optional ex- tensien deployed it is a sizeable house. Furthermore It is on a site within a ten-mile radius of Central London, and the builder itemises the cost of the site alone at £2,000.—Yours faithfully,

HAIG GUDENIAN Editor, Ideal Home Magazine 189 High Holborn, WCI HOLIDAYS WITH PREJUDICE Stit,—As Managing Director of Messrs. Justerini & Brooks Ltd., I was very unhappy to see your article 'Holidays with Prejudice' by Bernard Levin, in your issue of April 15, in which it was suggested that this firm is guilty of conducting a colour bar policy.

Unfortunately, it is true that on one occasion in the distant past an employee of this firm did refuse to employ a coloured student in a temporary job, but as neither the directors,nor the Company secre- tary were (or need be) consulted over employment of temporary labour to help with our annual Christ- mas trade, we do not know the reason for this re- fusal, and the employee concerned is no longer with us.

However, I would say that for the past four or five years we have always had at least one coloured man on our staff, in general we have found them to be exceedingly genial, popular and hard-working people, and one West Indian saw us out of dire distress in our annual cricket match two years ago.— Yours faithfully, EDWARD TATHAM

Managing Director Iusterini & Brooks Ltd., 153 New Bond Street. WI [Bernard Levin writes : 'I am very glad to learn that the example involving Messrs. Justerini and Brooks was indeed, as I suggested, a case of an employee exceeding his authority against the practice of the firm. As Mr. McDouall's letter last week Pointed out. Justerini and Brooks have an excellent record on this question.'—Editor, Spectator.]

HAMBROSIA

Sue,—Mr. Thornton's letter in defence of the 'Hambro' type of wines was to be expected. I think I need say no more than : (I) of course I have tasted the nasty things, though I have never tasted one twice; (2) within a half-mile of Charing Cross Road Mr. Thornton will find bottles which carry very uninformative labels including the word 'empire'; (3) I agree with him that the home-made product is more disgusting and dangerous than the imported, on the whole. But 1 was not endeavouring to establish degrees of infamy. I think it was Johnson who said he wouldn't discuss questions of precedence as between a louse and a flea.--Yours faithfully.

RAYMOND POSTDATE

45 Hendon Lane, N3

DUMMY RUN

SIR,—Monica Furlong had the only answer when she resorted to a dummy to stop her baby from cry- ing. An answer, I might add, which was met with the fiercest resistance from relatives, doctor and district nurse when my husband and l decided to give our little son similar solace.

The main objection appeared to be on esthetic grounds; the true one, as psychologists suggest, was probably unconscious resentment of the child's obtaining sensual pleasure.

I agree a dummy is not a pretty sight. On the other hand, a contented baby is the only sight a harassed mother wants to see.

It is also worth noting that out of the five chemists in my immediate area, none had a dummy for sale apart from the one who produced a dainty object just the right size to go down the baby's gullet but not gross enough to offend the eye. My daily help finally bought a correct, full-size dummy in Batter- sea where, I feel certain, baby morale is higher than in the 'nanny belt.'—Yours faithfully,

PAMELA GLANVILLE 5 Egerton Court, Old Brompton Road. SW7 SUBSIDISED PARKING?

their families nor their lawyers were allowed to visit them.

The families of the prisoners have sent a letter to the Director of the Prison and the Minister of Justice protesting; so have the lawyers about the violation of the legal rules. The text of this last letter, bearing the signature of many well-known lawyers from Madrid, like Juan Antonio de Zulueta, Mariano Robles and Jose Marfa Ruiz Gallarden, has also been sent to the International Commission, the International Bar Association and the International Red Cross.

Among the other political prisoners involved in this hunger strike are seventeen members of the People's Liberation Front (an underground organisa- tion most of whose members are Left-wing Catho- lics). whose leader was the diplomat Julio Ceron, eight members of the ASU (Association of University Socialists) among whom is Salvador de Madariaga's

nephew, Luis Solana Madariaga, and those arrested in the last month, among them many repatriated from Russia. The arrest of these people has pro- voked a letter sent by all the repatriated to General Franco, to the International Red Cross, and to other international bodies, protesting about the violation of the promise made by Franco when they were repatriated.

All these incidents are but the result and culmina-