7 MARCH 1941, Page 3

Mussolini, in an interview I had with him some eight

years ago, said that it was impossible for any one man to represent the views and interests of some 50,000 people, engaged perhaps in a hundred different industries. Our theory and practice are different, as Mr. Oswald Lewis and Sir Percy Harris and others made clear. We regard a man as a citizen first and as a docker, a miner or a teacher only at a secondary stage. As a citizen he has rights and obligations, he holds views about peace and war and about the general colour and tone of politics. Often he puts his faith in a man, regardless of any definite party background or affiliation. Millions of citizens belong to no party or trade union. All this is part of the foundation of our democratic system.