X MARKS THE SPOT Sta.—We are used to the Liberals
speaking with different voices, but Sir Jeremy Mostyn must really not repudiate his leader at such an early date, nor indeed purport to speak for Mr. Grimond.
This is what Mr. Grimond wrote in 1958: Suppose a House of Commons is returned with about 310 Socialists, 280 Tories and forty Liberals. This would show that . . . the voters wanted a Liberal influence brought to bear on the Government, to guide it on Liberal lines and to restrain it from the wilder Socialist follies. And in 1959 he said : If the election resulted in the Liberals holding the balance in the House of Commons they would not make government impossible. A summit meeting and general talks could go on with a fair measure of general backing. . . Many voters would be asking: 'What will hap- pen in the next four or five years if 1 vote Liberal'?'
You will have taken a most effective step in determining the kind of Government you are going to get. You may not determine whether you get a Tory or a Socialist Government— hut what is more important perhaps is to in- fluence how a Tory or Socialist Government will behave.
Surely Mr. Simon and I were right in saying that the Liberals' real aspiration in the election was to hold the balance of power. There is nothing to ne ashamed of in this—it is the most effective way for a minority to make its influence felt.--Yours faithfully,
S. KNOX CUNNINGHAM
House of Commons, SW I
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