Left-wing slogans are even more detached from reality. They deserve
careful study. There are the old Marxist formulas of 1848. And there are the later formulas of our own Gollancz-Laski period. The adherents to the latter school are apt, a trifle crudely perhaps, to simplify the issue by accusing the Prime Minister of hidden Fascist sympathies. The addicts to the former are all for war provided that it be a class-war of the true doctrinal pattern. The confusion of thought induced by these catch-phrases is pathetic and dis- tressing. Speaking on Tyneside the other day, I was met at question time by a whole cloud of left-wing midges. To my delight, I discovered among them a new midge; perhaps even a new species of midge. A charming young woman rose in her seat and began, with nervous fervour, to read out a ques- tion with which she had been provided. Incidentally, I should advise left-wing organisers, when supplying their flock with these standardised questions, to type them out. The fervour of the questioner is much diminished, and his or her nervousness much increased, when the words of the question prove to be illegible. My questioner on this occasion had much difficulty in deciphering the runic inscription with which she had been furnished. She struggled bravely through her manuscript, and when she had finished it she gazed up at me fervently, gollanczly, interrogatively; and with relief, class-warfare and expectation mingling in her lovely eyes. The gist of her question (and it was much involved) was " Did I share the Government's obvious desire to embark upon an imperialist war for Tunis ? "
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