'We'll make it so long as Ted doesn't funk it,
if he really puts the pressure on, if he really cuts back every rebel and gets Alec to present it to the Conference'. The speaker was not Sir Tufton Beamish but a young Labour man, clean of wind and limb. These are indeed strange days in the House as it breathlessly waits to see whether Mr Heath can convince M Pompidou that he is actual- ly European. (Perhaps it's the Skipper's deep tan which causes the confusion.)
The situation has not been without irony. One large sugar company has already de- cided it has had enough of Mr Rippon's romantic assurances about French inten- tions and has sent into action its Parliamen- tary contact man, a charming naval com- mander. Naturally this will cause some Conservative unease at the possibility of a Mr Cube campaign working in the other direction whilst one member of the shadow cabinet, and a veteran of many a scathing battle with the Left, realising that thiS would put Mr Foot firmly on the side of the sugar companies, could not resist saying to him: `Michael, Tate and Lyle will never believe it.'
Certainly not even the oldest inhabitants of Westminster could remember any similar occasion when the party system collapsed both in public and private. On the floor of the House there was the curious spectacle of a Conservative backbencher upbraiding his own front bench for not answering the demands of the opposition spokesman, then Mr John Mackintosh rushed to the intellec- tual aid of Mr Rippon as the Prime Minister sat nodding his approval. Mr Christopher Mayhew brought howls of derision on his own head as he offered comfort to the enemy whilst the Skipper sat with a face like stone as one of his youngest midship- men, Mr Roger Moate, remarked that the party was not selling Britain out but ac- tually giving it away.
Mr Moate deserves high marks for this performance since he had been snubbed by the 1922 committee only a few days before when he deployed his case against the Mar- ket with more enthusiasm than the brevity thought appropriate for one of his tender years. I must, however, warn him that all the worthy things that Prime Ministers, and other employers, say about liking outspoken young men are swiftly forgotten if any young man is misguided enough to take them seriously. Neither is the PM likely to forget the indiscretions of more mature men such as Mr John Jennings, the senior Chairman on the Speakers Panel, and one of the most popular of backbenchers. Mr Jennings said that entry to Europe could split the party or even threaten the leadership. Even in this extraordinary period of Parliamentary per- missiveness such full frontal remarks were heard with some amazement on both sides.
In such a tense atmosphere it is' no easy task to preserve detachment for protago- nists on both sides are aware that this week is the first time that the issue of the Market has been raised in anything approaching real terms and without the government of the day carefully anaesthetising the House in advance by explaining that we should all wait and see the actual terms.
It must however be recorded that Mr Rippon's statement to the House, and M Pompidou's appearance on British tele- vision, caused some dismay among the signatories of the Labour pro-Europe adver- tisement in the Guardian. In particular some were critical of the bland way in which Mr Rippon apparently accepted French assur- ances on the question of Britain's responsi- bilities to her sugar suppliers. Mr Philip Whitehead, whose name appeared on the list, put it quite forthrightly: 'That was a disappointing performance. He had to fall back on lame remarks about •the different emphases of the English and French lan- guage. What most pro-Europeans want to see when the entire package is revealed are concessions on the other side to balance those that we have made.' There was little doubt among the Labour party managers— whose sole concern is to keep the party in one piece—that opposition to entry in La- bour ranks has stiffened.
Mr Hugh Jenkins took the view that 'there was now very little possibility that Britain would go in'. This was hardly sur- prising since the Putney member's opposi- tion to entry is well known. But as one of the more reasonable of the Left wing mem- bers of the Labour party the evidence he advanced for this was not without signifi- cance. In short Mr Jenkins points out that the only body within the Labour party— ranging through the trade unions, constitu- ency parties, the NEC, and the annual con-
ference—which could expect to command a majority for entry—was. within the shadow cabinet itself. Yet how often in the past has the shadow cabinet upbraided left wingers for being so far removed from public opin- ion. Harsh political reality would, in Mr Jenkins's view, soon overtake the shadow cabinet and a united Labour party, save for a small irreconcilable group, would make Mr Heath's task well-nigh impossible.
The interesting common factor between Mr Jenkins's analysis and the problems facing Mr William Whitelaw and Mr Francis Pym lies in the views of the constituencies. Now Mr Whitelaw is among the shrewdest politicians in the land and not unnaturally is rather curious to know why the party suffered such a defeat at the polls at the local elections. Already quite a few Tory members have told him that the reason for the swing against the party had little to do with the Common Market and much to do with rising prices—but what would be the effect on prices of entering the EEC? If Mr Whitelaw has a political weakness it is that his face registers his thoughts like a barome- ter and he sat throughout Mr Rippon's statement sunk in sepulchral gloom which if anything deepened when Sir Harry Legge- Bourke began to speak of the effect of entry on his children and grandchildren. When the Chairman of the 1922 Committee starts to worry about the national heritage the veil of the Temple is near to being rent.
However the constituencies are liable to supply their own answer—to both parties. Not a single MP was able to name a con- stituency party which actually supported entry—whilst Scottish MPS learned with some trepidation that fishermen were threat- ening to put machine guns on their boats if foreigners were allowed to enter their fishing grounds. Colonel Mitchell of Aberdeen is not liable to be worried about such •threats, indeed a few dum-dum bullets whistling past his ears might make him feel quite at home, but with soldierly thoroughness he decided to put his constituency to the test during the recent Scottish Tory party con- ference. The conference accepted happily enough anodyne assurances on the Com- mon Market from Sir Alec Douglas-Home (with the inevitable proviso about obtaining the right terms) but the Colonel ran a debate on the issue between Sir Tufton Beamish and Mr Neil Marten. Some 250 people attended, and when he suggested that they should vote sixty were against and fifty four for entry. But more than a hundred abstained, and Colonel Mitchell remarked this week: 'The question I ask myself Is what will happen to the party if we go in?' That is yet another problem which Mr Whitelaw must ponder before he gives his final advice to Mr Heath as to whether entry is politically possible. Perhaps the voice that will sway him is the one that was not heard in Parliament when Mr Rippon was having a rough ride—the voice of Mr Powell. The thought of a year or more of complicated legislation with Mr Powell at last securing a popular base within the party to form a Bevanite. type rump, joined by one or two former ministers and worthy men such as Mr John Jennings, is enough to make even an ex- guards officer like Mr Whitelaw quail.
Next Thursday's by-elections should pro- vide some answers to the questions Mr Whitelaw is facing. Two of the by-elections, Goole and Southampton Itchen, are Labour held ,but Bromsgrove is a Conservative stronghold with a thumping 16.9 per cent majority. There are, however, dark rumours . emerging from the constituency that all might not be well. After a week at West' minster of fevered brows and confusion a bad result at Bromsgrove would clarify Mr Whitelaw's thoughts splendidly. For nothing concentrates a politician's 1111" so well as a sharp kick in the ballot box.
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