SPECTATOR'S NOTEBOOK
J. W. M. THOMPSON
The fact that the run-up to the general elec- tion coincides with a period of galloping inflation is not going to help politicians to make good the loss of public esteem which their profession has suffered in recent years. In many ways, they cut better figures when wrestling with the obscurities of the balance of payments than when their impotence before an avalanche of rising prices is plain for all to see. Moreover, a rapid fall in the purchasing power of money is an embitter- ing thing in itself, spreading resentment and anger among wide sections of the public; even the powerful groups who are able to protect themselves by repeatedly pushing up their own incomes cannot exactly enjoy the process of self-preservation at the expense of the weak. And to be presented with this mess as the nation's reward for 'getting the economy strong' is enough to test the pati- ence of the meekest of electors.
On the whole, the English are tolerant of politicians' bombast, being endowed with a sensible custom of discarding about nine tenths of it as soon as it is uttered; but a severe spell of inflation puts that tolerance under great strain. It may be easy in stable conditions to remain cheerfully unimpressed when someone is promising pie in the sky tomorrow; it's another thing altogether when the recipient of - the promise can see his existing standards being eroded and his sav- ings melting away. Then, I fear, electioneer- ing politicians are likely to provoke cynicism and hostility on a disagreeable scale. De- mocracy does not thrive when a country's money is in retreat.
Against sin
Both major parties seem at present to be making the mistake of underestimating the scepticism with which their promises and claims are received. Thus, Mr Heath's week- end speech about inflation was all very fine, I thought. except that it reminded me of some of the passionate speeches about rising prices which Mr George Brown and his col- leagues were making shortly before the 1964 election. That is to say, it came out very strongly ag4inst sip, but it was notably short on suggestions of how to eliminate it.
In the sour mood which seems to be developing in the country's politics, public men would be wise to bear in mind that most people (even when considered in their capacity as voters) are not utter simpletons. I witnessed a little scene the other day which seemed to say much in miniature in this con- nection. I was travelling out of London in a crowded commuter train. The Chancellor's bland pretence that his tinkerings with taxa- tion amounted to a genuine rise in the stan- dard of living was, naturally, prominently reported in the newspapers being read all around me. However, another news item did not escape attention: this was to the effect that railway fares in that region were to go up by 10 per cent. It took Mr Jenkins's sup- posed', grateful admirers almost no time to calculate that for them his trifling conces- sions had been more than wiped out by this one price increase alone. The derision with which his smooth pose of public benefactor was dismissed would have pained him.
But then, the Tories' unqualified promise of sweeping tax cuts is scarcely likely to go down any better in present circumstances. Untutored in economics the public may be,
but they have by now taken on board the idea that criticising a government for per- mitting rampant inflation, while simultane- ously promising a massive release of extra spending power, is pretty suspect electioneer- ing. Many of them, indeed, will also remem- ber that there is some sort of Tory commit- ment to introduce a brand new tax, the value added tax, which would lead to a compen- satory increase in the cost of living. It is true that not much is heard about VAT at present; like the East of Suez commitment, it is one of those awkward matters which Tory orators hope will be allowed to slumber unnoticed. But people, I repeat, are not such simpletons as all that.
Good resolution
I wonder how many other gardeners were put off, last Sunday, by accounts of the effects of an appalling weedkiller which the American government (but not ours) has just banned. There we were, enjoying what was almost the first sunny Sunday of the spring, watching the weeds flexing their muscles in the lawn and the roses opening their leaves ready for the coming swarms of aphides; then came this dreadful account in the Sun- day Timec of how 'the most popular weed- killer on the market' had been blamed for the birth of horribly deformed babies.
How sickening it is to think of gardening, the most virtuous of activities, leading people to drench the earth with such a poison. I have never gone in much for the sort of all-out chemical warfare on pests and weeds which serious-minded modern gardeners wage; still, in my inefficient way I have used those sinister hormone sprays on the lawn and I have squirted greenfly with various noxious fluids. Never again. I have made a resolution : henceforth, my modest patch of East Anglian soil shall be free of chemical poison if nothing else. And (it occurs to me) if every gardener did the same, the results could even be significant; the gradual elimination of wild life from the countryside might yet be halted.
There is, I find, a certain sense of relief about taking this decision, such as one experiences after deciding to give up smoking. But I admit one also feels faintly defenceless at the thought of the chomping hordes of summer insects. Can anyone re- commend a way of resisting greenfly without chemical warfare?
Hello, Mr Chips
Mr Brian Young's appointment as director- general of the ITA is really rather comical. The teaching profession is more determined than ever to keep out unqualified people— indeed, such people are being driven out of their jobs wherever possible. Yet Mr Young, lately headmaster of Charterhouse, has landed the top job in commercial television in spite of his being (as he pleasantly admits) wholly unqualified so far as TV training or experience go.
Is this (1 quote) 'an outrageous insult to people working in television'? I'd like to hear the National Union of Teachers' views, bear- ing in mind that what's sauce for the goose etc. Meanwhile I think Mr Robin Day will make an excellent head of Charterhouse; and I shall be delighted to read that Sir Lew Grade is about to take over at Eton.
Previous page
