12 FEBRUARY 1927, Page 3

Colonel Wedgwood Benn who has joined the Labour Party is

a great loss to the Liberals. No Liberal was a more resourceful or unflagging skirmisher in Opposition. Perhaps his political enemies admire him even more than his political friends, for they have the acutest appreciation of the keenness of his weapons. In a statement to his constituents at Leith Captain Benn explained that for some time he had questioned the truth of an economic outlook that was based on the theory of private enterprise and free competition. He saw everywhere that com- petition was yielding to combination and the logic of events had convinced him that he ought really to be a Socialist.

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