People and parties
Sir: I believe I was the first person to employ the phrase 'government of national unity' in a letter to the national press, prior to its employment by Mr Thorpe, and this is my reason for replying to the paragraph entitled 'Contracting out' in Spectator's Notebook of March 23.
Those who support the notion of non-party government are contracting out of partisan, sectarian, divisive, doctrinaire government. They favour government by elected representatives dedicated to the general welfare of the people, not the interests of certain groups. They are fed up with party hacks, extremists, self-seeking leaders, covert Marxists and crypto-Fascists. They do not disdain the word patriotism. They remember that it was a National Government (a government of national unity) that took Britain out of the Depression, re-armed the country — fairly adequately — despite left-wing Socialist opposition, and saw us through the second world war.
Effectively, the British electorate recently voted against party government and would welcome an administration headed by men and women prepared to forget political dogmas and personal ambitions. What they have got is the old political party game — and that's not good enough.
Why do the pundits support the politicians against the people?
John Doxat 8 Palace Place Mansions, Kensington Court, London W6
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