AT WESTMINSTER
THE Finance Bill, as the Tories' dislike of the Excess Profits Levy, not to mention the Purchase Tax, has shown, is no popularity-winner, and yet Mr. Butler is coming through the debates with a greatly heightened reputa- tion. The present Opposition is not much given to charitable judgements of its opponents, but even Labour members admit to having been impressed by the ability and tact the Chancellor has shown. No one could deny the intellectual force that went into his defence of the changes in the Excess Profits Levy and the Profits tax. But what has done much to neutralise Labour hostility has been the Chancellor's invincible suavity. Contro- versy over the Bill was inevitable and yet, as the saying is, it has • been going through as though on castors, so little serious friction has there been. Yet this cocksure Opposition—one of the most cocksure one remembers—would surely have been living at a white-heat of enmity toward a clumsier or more aggressive Chancellor. It must be remembered that this Opposition con- tains some of the most advanced thinkers on the planet and advanced thinkers have a low flash-point. Take Mr. X. He has been leading " the march of mind " ever since he got out of his cradle. If you have not seen him wag his omniscient little noddle disapprovingly over so unadvanced a thinker as Mr. Churchill then you have not lived, as the radio comedian says about the man who has never been to Manchester. Dean Inge believes God has a sense of humour and considering the creation of Mr. X one is convinced he is right.
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Mr. Butler is not a true specimen of the genus politician. He is detached and a little cold. His mind is a clear mirror never blurred by the senses. You will find nothing in his speeches designed to tickle the ears of the electoral groundlings. No one at the Conservative Central Office will hand him the party drum and invite him to give it a good, hard bang. Such a one would meet with arctic disdain. Here, then, is character, if not the most winning. One can well believe, after this greater experi- ence of Mr. Butler, that he was quite capable of telling Mr. Churchill when, as has been reported, he wished to give him a " co-ordinator," that Reginald Austen Butler was more than capable of co-ordinating himself. And he would do it passion- lessly. Only one thing can ruffle the cold surface of his self- possession : that is any hint that he is not scrupulously just. Honour is a word often on his lips. " We have honourably carried out the Douglas Committee's report," he told Mr. Gaitskell with Rhadamanthine severity when the latter sug- gested that the D scheme favoured the better off at the expense of the poor. They are saying he is a certain future Tory Prime Minister; that, in fact, he would be the next Tory Prime Minister, if, for any unhappy reason, Mr. Eden fell out. He is not known to the public as Mr. Eden is, nor has he Mr. Eden's personal appeal. He has no colour or magnetism. Nor had Bonar Law. Nor has Mr. Attlee. It is a paradox, but it was limited democracy that gave birth to the commanding popular leaders. Complete democracy, with universal franchise, is barren of them. Or is it a paradox ? Perhaps, the common man hates to have an uncommon Prime Minister.
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When Mr. Eden announced the withdrawal of British firms from China the House bowed collectively to the inevitable. The blow was no pleasant one, even if it had been foreseen. While everyone wants to hold on to all possible opportunities for trade with China it was exasperating to hear some of the Russophils who have been to the Moscow conference still babbling about getting trade agreements with the Communists, though Mr. Eden repeatedly told them the Chinese Commu- nists had ignored the Government's attempts to follow up the " alleged " Moscow agreements. Mr. Hale, the Labour member for Oldham, exploded amusingly on the Civil List. By a mis- chance a Scottish Labour representative had been omitted from. the Select Committee and there was such a Scottish lament as has not been heard since Flodden. Mr. Hale had another word for it. 'He called it regional blackmail. H. B.
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