AN END TO SELF-DECEPTION
TFriliE Government must naturally be hoping that some good will come out of the many attempts now being made to continue negotiations about the European Free Trade Area. Talk's will begin soon in Brussels, letters are being written between Prime Ministers, and doubtless further meetings will be held in various places between different groups of countries. But even if these salvage operations are eventually successful it is as well to recognise that the shortcomings of the British Government during the last two years have already done a great deal of damage. Few efforts were made to build up an informed opinion in this country—even within the House of Com- mons—about the issues at stake. Thus it was never properly appreciated that what French opinion has always wanted is managed markets, protection, and other manifestations of dirigisme, all of which is entirely irreconcilable with the British conception of a Free Trade Area. Until this week, such misgivings as have been voiced were swamped by the smooth optimism of the Paymaster-General. That, at least, ought now to disappear. But no one has yet measured the impact on the attitude of British businessmen. After their initial enthusiasm and the efforts they have made, this latest move will seem to them to be a dis- couraging rebuff. They are unlikely to be impressed by silly talk about `retaliation,' which would lead nowhere. It would be tragic if the penetration by British traders of European markets were to be set back for years.
The other major criticism is that the Paymaster- General has never been able to put over the British point of view in European countries. It is everywhere assumed that Britain wishes to enjoy the best of all worlds by insisting on the sanctity of Imperial Preference and feather-bedding of British agriculture, while at the same time expect- ing a free run for British industrialists inside Europe. If this is a caricature of the British position, it is unfortunate that it should be the picture which is widely accepted. But is it a caricature? These conflicts do exist. Unfortu- nately the Government has never faced them. Even now, as the Prime Minister's speech to the National Farmers' Union this week made clear, the Government is trying to have its cattle- cake and eat it. It is said that the whole spirit of our relations with France would have been different had the Paymaster-General agreed to facilitate the imports of French wheat on a modest scale. Doubtless the NFU said 'No.' The imminent danger of eleven European coun- tries discriminating against six other European countries in tariffs and quotas, so that trade between them shrinks, may at last put an end to these long months of self-deception.
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