Where the Real Weakness Lies
SIR,—Nigel Lawson is probably right in saying the Tories' greatest weakness is a lack of clear economic policy (February 17), though this has lasted for
longer than their time in Opposition, but is quite wrong in saying that the Conservatives' low standing is in no way caused by actions of the Labour govern- ment and Mr Wilson. I think that it is those actions of the present Government and Prime Minister which are most objected to by the politically active which in fact are responsible for the present position.
It may be unfair but the main impression left. by the last Conservative government was an unwilling- ness to do anything until absolutely forced and then doing it rather unwillingly. The present Government, though one may disagree with much of what it does,
and 1 do, nevertheless appears to be doing some-
thing and usually in a fairly full-blooded way. It was a sick joke in the early 'sixties that if the Con- servative government was faced with a difficult de- cision it set up a Royal Commission to delay taking action and possibly producing an answer the Govern- ment was unwilling to find for itself. The classic example is decimal currency, all the arguments were well known before the Conservatives set up a Com- mission, and even when that had reported the Government used the fact that it was divided to post- pone taking a decision. One may feel that the present Chancellor's decision is the wrong one, but at least it is a decision long overdue.
The position is similar over election promises and other matters. By the 1966 election the electorate had rightly become pretty cynical about the Dutch auction of election promises, so that when Mr Wilson breaks these promises, far from thinking him dis- honest, most people think him a sensible person and honest enough to accept what everyone else has: that such promises were never real in the first place.
In most of the big issues of the day the present Government does appear, when it has made a de- cision, to really try to make it work, and be quite prepared to trample on its own supporters in the process. On the Common Market, and an incomes
policy the present Government seems far more de- termined than the Conservatives ever were. One has the odd situation that a Labour government is sup- plying strong government, while the Conservatives
in retrospect seem weak and indecisive. If the Con- servatives want to regain popular support they need
to show they are willing and capable of taking awk- ward decisions and standing by them. Rather than trying to secure petty points on parliamentary proce- dure and thinking this very clever, when all it is is annoying, let them produce plans for really reforming and bringing up to date that procedure, and make it quite clear they will implement these as soon as they get into power.
W. K. STEAD
Little Beside House. St Day, near Redruth, Cornwall
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