One happy party
Sir: Peter Oborne asserts that the 'feud' between Robin Cook and Gordon Brown is `on a momentous scale, analogous to the great divide that split Aneurin Bevan and Hugh Gaitskell in opposition in the 1950s after Bevan resigned from the Attlee Cabi- net in protest at Gaitskell's Budget' (Poli- tics, 25 November).
Has Mr Oborne any understanding of Labour politics? Likening the mild rivalry amongst Labour's current leaders to the ideological chasm between the different traditions represented by Bevan and Gaitskell would be marked down in an undergraduate essay; it does little credit to a journal such as The Spectator.
The period Mr Oborne describes saw the great battle of ideas between those who believed that socialism meant nationalising everything from cement to the corner chip- pie and the ethical, pragmatic version which guided Hugh Gaitskell, and Harold Wilson after him That particular discussion was finally put to rest this year by the scrapping of Clause 4 and its replacement of a statement which accepts the mixed economy, the role of markets and the 'rigours of competition.' Tony Blair's election as Labour leader sounded the death knell of state socialism.
Socialism as a non-doctrinaire, ethical and pragmatic Weltanschauung, supportive of enterprise and profits but tempered by a desire for social justice, is supported by all members of the shadow Cabinet, and the majority of members of the Labour Party. Paul Richards
National Executive, Labour Co-ordinating Committee, 109 Hammersmith Bridge Road, W6
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