I AM AMUSED by the controversy Mr. Mark Bonham Carter
has stirred up in The Timer with his letter anent Mr. Peter Thorneycroft's speech at Gloucester, in which Mr. Thorneycroft de- clared that he was as good a Liberal as anyone, and added for good measure that nine-tenths of the causes Liberals believe in are shared by the Conservative Party. Mr.. Bonham Carter repudi- ated Mr. Thorneycroft's contention; whatever may once have been the case, he retorted, the Suez folly set a gulf between Liberals and Conserva- tives, and until the latter publicly repudiate the action the former must needs hold aloof. But the Carmarthen by-election was not so long ago; and in that the Liberal candidate was an enthusiastic supporter of Suez, and suddenly, as if by magic, all Liberal, criticism; moral and political, of the Suez fiasco dried up. Mr. Grimond went to Car- marthen and spoke, I believe, about co-partner- ship; does Mr. Bonham Carter imply that there is a gulf between him and his leader?
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