Honest Herbert
There is a special type of oratory employed by Mr. Herbert Morrison which is difficult to pin down in that its purpose is both to conceal and reveal thought. Nobody could seriously take the speech which he made at Perth last week for what he called it— a new definition of Socialism. And yet nobody could doubt that somewhere beneath the verbiage there was a carefully prepared programme for the election, with Mr. Morrison very firmly in charge of it. Some parts of the programme are clear. Steel nationalisation has not been dropped, and nationalisation of water is kept on the list, but there are no more additions. There is nothing included in or omitted from Mr. Morrison's catalogue of matters of social concern which would offend any but the more extreme left-wing members of the Labour Party. But on the other hand there is nothing particularly likely to attract Conservative or Liberal votes, for the day has passed when a mere expression of good will and a half-proinise not to do anything drastic could make any difference. In other words there is still scope for Mr. Morrison the opportunist, and as an opportunist he is a force to be reckoned with. Certainly the Tories are not his match on that ground. For months and years they were challenged to say what controls they would take off first, and time and again, apparently under the impression that they were being subtle, they refused the challenge. Consequently the Labour Party in the end got most of the credit for the recent relaxations. But Mr. Morrison's opportunities are narrowing. Sooner or later in his attempt to catch votes from the Right he may be driven to offer some really big concession. The Tories would do themselves and the country no harm if they challenged him to suggest a way of cutting the standard rate of income-tax.
Previous page
