A SPECTATOR'S NOTEBOOK R. CHURCHILL'S "lion - hearted limpets "
is an Admirable phrase for a Conservative Albert Hall rally, but any Ministers of any Party would be l▪ i▪ m▪ pets as long as they thought it suited their interests better to stay in than to go out. What, it may be asked, of the country's interests? That question does not arise. Every Government thinks the country safer in its own hands than in the Opposition's. (" I know that I can save my country, and that no one else can.") The present Government's calculation. seems to be that, though they would be sure of defeat if there" were a General Election now, things would be unlikely to be worse, and might somehow be better, in October. Micawberish, but natural. In this the Government may, of course, be right or wrong. Oddly enough, their line seems to suit Mr. Bevan, too. His stock is not high at the moment, in spite of the support of some of the extremer trade unionists. It may rise, and Mr. Attlee's and Mr. Morrison's may drop. Consequently, the longer the election is put off, the better. And since Mr. Bevan has under- taken not to vote against the Government, and his friends will probably take the same line, there is no reason to expect an early election unless the Government loses seats at by-elections. But if it is not true that the unexpected always happens in politics, it is true that it often does. Prediction in that field is a precarious business.
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