Heath watches Labour moves

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 33065, 4 November 1972, Page 15

Heath watches Labour moves

(By

MICHAEL ROBSON,

N.Z.P.A. staff correspondent)

LONDON, Nov. 3. The British Prime Minister (Mr Heath) will have more interest than usual in the election, next week, of the Labour Shadow Cabinet. On its composition might depend the success of British participation in the European Parliament.

A list of the candidates for the Shadow Cabinet released shows that the Labour pro-Marketeers are attempting a revival. When Mr Roy Jenkins resigned from the deputy leadership of the Labour Party in April, several frontbench spokesmen followed him into the wilderness. One of the most prominent of these was Mr Harold

Lever, a convinced European. He finished sixth in the 1971 elections for the 12 places in the Cabinet and was recognised as being one of the most incisive Opposition speakers on financial matters. Now Mr Lever has decided to run again, which will give heart to other pro-Marketeers such as Mr Roy Hattersley, Mr Ivor Richard, Mr Cledwyn Hughes, and Mr Denis Howell, who either did not offer themselves for election last year or were unsuccessful. Mr Heath will be waiting to see if there is any chance of the Labour Party’s changing its present policy or not co-operating on European affairs.

There is strong pressure from the anti-Marketeers—-especially those in the Leftwing Tribune Group — to maintain an absolute aloofness from all activities on

the other side of the channel. This stand, they say, has been dictated by the Government’s refusal to put the decision on Market entry to the British people. From January 1, however, Britain will be expected to send a bi-partisan group of 36 members of Parliament to the European Parliament in Strasburg. To date, the European Par|iament has been something of a disappointment. Its deliberations have been singularly lacking in any sort of cut and thrust, while its decisions have had little influence on the course of events within the Community.

One of the fervent hopes —especially on the part of the Dutch and West Germans— has been that Britain’s entry would bring in experienced. Westminster politicians, who would inject some of their traditional democracy into proceedings and make the idea of eventual purposeful political union more than a pipedream.

If the Labour Party boycotts the whole project however, there is little doubt that the Strasburg Parliament’s viability and credibility will be seriously affected. Also, there will be procedural difficulties at Westminster for Mr Heath.

If they refuse to supply members for the Parliamentary delegation to Strasburg, it is highly unlikely that the Labour Party will grant pairs. With a majority of only 26 votes in the Commons, the Government could ill-afford to have even a half-delegation floating around Europe, risking missing important divisions. And the intransigence of the anti-Marketeers cannot be too pleasing either to the Leader of the Opposition (Mr Wilson).

If proceedings at Strasburg are seriously jeopardised, the European Socialists are unlikely to look kindly on their British brethren, and the already harsh words spoken by men such as the president of the E.E.C. Commission (Dr Sicco Mansholt) about Labour’s stick-in-the-mud attitude can be expected to become even harsher. But whether Mr Lever and his friends can muster enough votes to make a real impact in the Shadow Cabinet remains to be seen. The recent re-election of a pro-Marketeer, Mr Douglas Houghton, as Parliamentary party chairman was an encouraging sign and perhaps an indication that some members are now prepared to accept entry as a fait accompli. One can guarantee, however, that men such as Mr Michael Foot, Mr Wedgewood Benn and Mr Peter Shore will not easily drop their opposition to the Common Market. There seems every likelihood therefore that the battles over Europe which proved so divisive may once again plague the Opposition,

but this time will also involve Mr Heath. Malaysian unrest Communist guerrillas have become increasingly active near the capital of the East Malaysian state of Kuching, approaching to within three miles of the city and to within four miles of its airport. Government soldiers are now searching vehicles for concealed weapons, and a curfew has been imposed from 7 p.m. to 5 a.m.—Kuching, November 3.