Political Speeches

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31089, 18 June 1966, Page 4

Political Speeches

Purpose in Power. By Harold Wilson. Weidenfeld and Nicolson. 194 pp. “Purpose in Power” is a selection, made by the Prime Minister of Britain, of speeches delivered by him during his first year of office and which he considers to be of more than passing interest. As such, it forms a timely sequel to an earlier collection, “Purpose in Politics,” published on the eve of the 1964 General Election which took Mr Wilson to Downing Street. This new collection opens with the television broadcast on October 16, 1964, the day the Queen invited Mr Wilson to form a government, and ends with extracts from a speech in the House of Commons shortly after the opening of Parliament in November, 1965. The 15 passages included thus cover the 13 months which began with the first Chinese nuclear explosion and the “resignation” of Mr Khrushchev and ended with the declaration of independence by the Rhodesian government In between came wars in Kashmir, Santo Domingo and Vietnam, the. death of Sir Winston Churchill, the crisis over the payment of dues by United Nations members, and new British overtures on the Common Market. All these events find a place in Mr Wilson’s remarks though the greater part of these selections is devoted to Britain’s interna] problems, particularly the “economic recovery” programme.

These are not great speeches. Sometimes the style is laboured, occasionally it is obtuse. Usually the meaning is clear enough and Mr Wilson’s enthusiasm and dedication towards his high office are manifest on every page. The inclusion of an index, allowing quick cross-reference of ideas and their development, would also help to give such collections more permanent value. J,