AND FIGHT AGAIN
SIR,—There is a more serious objection than the size of the sample to be raised against Roy Jenkins's use of the Daily Herald poll to suggest that four-fifths of Labour voters support Mr. Gaitskell on defence. The Herald asked whether, if Russia and America keep their nuclear weapons, we should give up ours or keep them. The 82 per cent. who said 'keep them' were thereby rejecting not only the CND policy but also that of the national executive. If the answers to a loaded question prove anything, it would seem to be that we should revert to copying the Tories.
Mr. Jenkins would have been safer with the Gallup poll, which, offering a triple choice of giving up nuclear weapons, pooling with NATO, and making our own, has shown support for the first course among Labour supporters of 41 per cent, a year ago, 38 per cent. in July, 24 per cent. this September. I believe it is correct to add that at no time through- out the past year has whatever was currently official policy achieved 40 per cent. support.
What was depressing about Mr. Jenkins's article was its failure to recognise the real need, and sup- port, for disarmament. We who support unilateralism do not do so just to be bloody-minded. We may be mistaken, but at least we take disarmament seriously.
With honourable exceptions, those who think like Mr. Jenkins have spent less of their time these last two years fighting for disarmament than against the only group who seemed to care about it. If the various newly formed groups that have proclaimed their zeal to compaign for multilateral disarmament will really do so. one unilateralist anyway will be de- lighted. It will be a welcome change from our experi- ence of the 'great campaign' launched with the full splendour of the party and the TUC in early 1958. Does anyone here remember it?—Yours faithfully,
STEPHEN HUGH-JONES
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