WHOSE DIVIDE?
IN the wake of the general election Labour has made much of the `North-South di- vide', arguing that the Conservative Gov- ernment has no mandate to rule in the north of England and Scotland. But this is an argument which can easily be turned against them. If one assumed for a moment that Labour could ever form a government from its present strong areas then the Counter-argument — that it had no man- date to rule in the vast majority of England — would be heard. In the language of 'One Nation' politics both parties are vulner- able. And the present position is much Worse for Labour than that. First, the Conservatives rightly point out that, although they did badly in Scotland, their position in the north of England is by no means hopeless. Their capture of York, Darlington, Keighley and Elmet showed that they were far from being a spent force here. Second, there is in the present distribution of parliamentary seats an in- built bias towards Scotland, where the average constituency is some 20 per cent smaller than in England. This is done because the Boundary Commission has a duty to take into account the geographical situation. Were this anomaly ever to be thought inappropriate then Labour's posi- tion would further deteriorate when com- pared to that of the Conservatives. Third, Labour now has to face the prospect that as a political force in England — especially in the Midlands and the South — their position is desperate. Outside the conurba- tions they are hardly represented at all, and in the urban areas, especially London, it is now clear that the Conservatives have found the means to chip away at Labour's once safe inner-city heartlands. In recent days it has become obvious that, while some of Labour's more intelligent and honest public figures appreciate the real nature of their problems in terms of North-South politics, the party as a whole will, for the near future at any rate, turn its back on them. This will do Labour no good. Unless they can find a way of appealing to the Midlands and the South, unless they can woo back the more prosperous working voter, they can never be a national party of government again. By contrast the Conservatives should now seize the opportunities that the present position offers them. In taking their attack back into the inner cities they can turn back socialism even further.
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