Sta,—Mr. Desmond Donnelly, in his article 'A Search for a
New Party'?' in the Spectator, sup- ported in the Birmingham Planet by his colleague Woodrow Wyatt, re-ignites the old controversy about a permanent Lib-Lab pact. Mr. Donnelly makes great' play with the influence of the Liberal Party on Labour voters in an effort to strengthen his argument for the major regrouping of the British left. The Liberal vote nationally has increased spectacularly in this general election, and although the Liberal Party may tend to make moderate ad- vances into the traditional Labour vote, the main prey of Liberal electioneering tactics is still con- fined to .the limited sphere of the disillusioned Tory voter.
There may, indeed, be little difference. in the views of Mr. Donnelly and the Liberal Party, but Mr. Donnelly can hardly be seen as a true and realistic barometer of Labour Party opinion. To the majority of Labour Party workers and a large section of the Parliamentary Labour Party, there is an enormous difference, both in actual policy matter and principles, between them and the Liberal Party. Such a dramatic realignment of the left would meet deep opposition from all sections of the Labour movement.
87 Claremont Road, Cricklewood, NW2
BRYAN KEITH
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