POLICY ON DEFENCE

Press, Volume XCIX, Issue 29384, 10 December 1960, Page 14

POLICY ON DEFENCE

Labour May Have New Manifesto

(N.Z. Press Association—Copyright) LONDON, December 8. The Labour Party may issue an entirely new defence manifesto to put an end to the Hbomb crisis at present splitting the party. This emerged today from a private meeting between leaders of Mr Hugh Gaitskell’s "shadow cabinet” and the party’s executive committeeThe four proposals, which will now be put before the Labour Party’s ally, the Trade Union Congress, were: (1) That no action should be taken. The controversy would be allowed to continue without any guidance from the executive. (2) That the previous official defence policy—pledging loyalty to the N.A.T.O. based on an American deterrent—should be reaffirmed or represented, in spite of its rejection by Labour’s recent annual conference, which passed a resolution calling for the unilateral renunciation of nuclear weapons. (3) That there should be an amended version of the official defence policy, which had the backing of both the executive and Trades Union Congress general council. (4) That there should be a new statement of principles which could perhaps be commended by the executive, the “shadow cabinet” and the T.U.C. to the Labour Party’s next conference, in the autumn, 1961