Mr Wilson and the 'Spectator'
ON April 21, the first day, of the debate on the address following the Queen's Speech. Hansard records that the Prime Minister, speak- ing of Rhodesia, said this: 'Some editorial articles in last year's SPECTATOR provided some of the most disgraceful interpreta- tion of the issue and provocation to the extremist elements below the gangway in the Conservative party which some of us have ever had the mis- fortune to read.'
Through the normal channels, we asked Num- ber 10 which articles Mr Wilson had in mind. After a considerable delay, we were referred to three articles that had appeared on October 8, November 26, and December 24, 1965.
The first of these, headed 'Britain's Conces- sion' and published before UDI, urged Rhodesia not to declare unilateral independence and warned Mr Wilson of the danger of embarking on a road leading to the use of force. It con- cluded: 'Either it is negotiated independence or it is potential conflagration in Southern Africa. Neither choice is ideal, but it would be an act of unthinking weakness to risk the conflagration.' The second article, headed 'Chapter Six and Chapter Seven,' criticised Mr Wilson for his cavalier attitude to the United Nations, but noted approvingly that 'the Prime Minister re- mains obstinately in the centre, edging if any- thing to the more moderate Conservative viewpoint.' The third article, headed 'Mr Heath and Mr Wilson,' warned the Prime Minister that 'nothing would be simpler than for South.Africa to provide Rhodesia with enough oil' and that oil sanctions could therefore only be made wholly effective by the use of force, and urged, 'Can he not seek conciliation and the conference table before either the racial war starts, or he helps to create a new apartheid state in Southern Africa?'
Now that Mr Wilson has, happily, adopted the sPEerAron's policy and initiated talks between Britain and Rhodesia, perhaps he would care to withdran; his unfounded allegations against this journal.
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