LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
THE TORIES AT BLACKPOOL
Snt,—The speeches macle at the Tory Conference at Blackpool fill moderate supporters of the party with despair. The policy of the party is still in the hands of the 011 Guard, who adhere to the shibboleths of he last generation ; the representatives of the younger and • more progressive section (Viscount Hinchingbrooke, Richard Law and Hugh Molson, to take typical examples) were not even given a hearing. Imperial preference, one of the chief obstacles to an understanding between our- selves and America, was upheld, though everyone knows that multilateral trade, on the widest possible scale and with the fewest possible barriers, provides the only protection against the repetition of the disaster of 1929-3z. The references to India will accentuate the deep-seated suspicions of our sincerity at a critical moment ; Indians will not forget Churchill's declaration that "the British nation has no intention whatever of relinquishing control." There was much glib talk of democracy, but when has the Conservative Central Office ever put up a working-class candidate for a Tory seat? Dozens of young men, mostly officers from the R.A.F., offered themselves to the party at the last Election, but were turned down because they had not been to the right schooL Then they stood for Labour—and got in. The old school tie is still an indispensable qualification for a Tory seat. It is sheer nonsense to talk about a partnership between Capital and Labour when the Conservatives are up to the hilt in big business The holding of directorships by the score on the part of ex-Ministers is little short of a scandal. The miners do not readily forget the treatment they received from the Conservatives in 1926 when the Samuel Report (which, if adopted, would have made nationalisation unnecessary) was pigeon-holed. Read, for instance, the remarkable letter from a Tory miner in the last issue of the Sunday Times.
Tories are fonder of quoting Disraeli's remarks on Tory democracy than of acting upon them. Let the younger Conservatives do as Disraeli did in 1867, rise against those who are tying them to the past, and start a really deniocratic movement in common with all the progressive elements willing to form a united front against Socialism. They will find plenty of support. Messrs. Churchill, Amery and Company will find full scope for their histrionic 'talents in the House of Lords. Unless this is done, and done now, the only movement in. politics will continue to be to the
Previous page
