6 JANUARY 1939, Page 7

Aspects of Parliament Our Parliamentary Correspondent writes : 1938 was

a disappointing year for both the Opposition parties. Their attacks upon the Government were frequently damaging, but somehow their own position was not strengthened thereby. The fault lay principally with the Labour Front Bench. The aim of an Opposition which genuinely wishes to dispossess the existing administration should always be to drive a wedge into the ranks of the Government's supporters. Too often, however, Labour speeches in the House of Commons have had the effect of consolidating rather than dividing the Conservative majority. They are still over-apt to relapse into general invective about decaying capitalism instead of concentrating upon the immediate shortcomings of Ministers.

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