3 JANUARY 1941, Page 7

Parliamentary Notes

Our Parliamentary Correspondent writes : —In your last issue Mr. L. B. Namier concluded an historical essay on Demo- cracy and Party with these words: " In the presence of social inequalities, parliamentary democracy without parties must in- evitably result in a real pluto-democracy.' " This may well be true, but the real conflict in Britain is different. Parties are strongly entrenched, but they are out of step with public opinion; parties control funds, and effectively prevent many valuable elements in the national life from representation. Indeed, I have often heard it said that few, if any, of the ablest men can afford to enter Parliament. If this be true, it is a sad commentary; my researches tend to prove the truth of the statement. How, then, is Parliament constituted?