THE UNPOPULAR FRONT

Evening Post, Volume CXXIII, Issue 12, 15 January 1937, Page 8

THE UNPOPULAR FRONT

The United Left Front political movement in Great Britain lias been stabbed in the back. The National Executive of the British Labour Partyhas issued a statement urging members to withhold support from organisations pursuing United Front or Popular Front activities. Perhaps, however, it is incorrect to term this a stab in the back; as the Labour Party's claim is that the United Front is not a front at all. Anyway the new combination of Communist Party, Independent Labour Party, and Socialist League has been stabbed or kicked somewhere. The fact suggests that the English language, in its application to political forma- j tions, needs a little revision. At present two or three little bodies, or parts of bodies, break away from a larger body and promptly claim that there has been a unifying movement, though everybody thought it was division. They cause dissension and unpopularity and call it Popular; and they tag on to the heels of some existing party and claim to be the Front. There are apparently as many Fronts as there arc sides, and they all hope to be popular. To add to the confusion there is no certainty as to which is Left and which is Right. Fortunately the electors have a way of dealing with such confusion of labelling and position. Each election is a stage in elimination; then the new parties can begin again with a new Front and fresh effrontery. . i