Labour in Conference
The Labour Party's Whitsuntide Conference is everybody's business. The limitation of Parliamentary debate due to the pressure of a large legislative programme, and the evident intention of the Government not to reveal to the Opposition any facts which might be used as evidence against them, help .to focus attention on these occasions when the claims of party unity exact a measure of publicity for the processes of policy making. It is significant enough that the full list of resolutions which was published some weeks ago, and is now going through the final stages of dehydration, contains a number of strong pleas for publicity for Government measures and the
reasons for them. Nobody inside or outside the Labour Party can dispute the need for such information, and the fate of these resolu- tions must be watched carefully. There will also be plenty of interest in the formidable list of resolutions condemning Mr. Bevin's foreign policy. Clearly there is strong feeling about this, and the stage is set for one of those battles between the platform and the floor in which demdbracy expresses itself at Labour Party Conferences. Heat will no doubt be engendered by the amendment to the party con- stitution, which stands in the name of the National Executive at the very head of the list, and which has as its object the ending of the perennial nuisance of Communist Party applications for affiliation. The last act of Professor Laski's over-publicised but undoubtedly bizarre career as chairman of the Party is certain to be lively, and it may be very informative. When Mr. Philip Noel- Baker takes over, liveliness and information may still be hoped for— and fewer indiscretions.
Previous page
