BRITISH POLITICS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 25799, 21 March 1945, Page 5

BRITISH POLITICS

MR CHURCHILL’S INTENTIONS CONJECTURE AROUSED (N.Z.P.A. Special Correspondent) (Rec. 11 p.m.) LONDON, Mar. 20. The rock that Mr Churchill cast into the placid pool of the Conservative Party conference last week has caused waves of discussion among all political parties ever since. Tms centres around the question whether he intends to form a coalition “ caretaker ” Government between the period of the break-up of the present Government and tne general election and whether, if the Conservative Party returns to power, he intends to form another coalition after that event. The speech has been carefully read and re-read by all parties, and although the Conservatives at their con- , ference cherished the thoughts*—before his speech—that they would soon be free of the “ chains ” of the coalition, it seems that after brooding over it they are taking kindly to his suggestions. As a party they would naturally prefer, if returned with a comfortable majority, not to share the plums of office with other parties, but they are doubtful, after 10 years with no general election and a movement to the Left in public opinion, of the size of the majority they will retain, provided, of course, they are returned. They can see that the promise to form another Coalition' Government ‘ after the election may influence the voters of no particular party to cast their votes for the Conservatives, since neither the Labour nor the Liberal Parties apparently have any simi-' lar thoughts of continued coalition And there is no doubt that a block of votes might be cast in favour of “ Churchill, the leader of the war coalition, Churchill. the leader of the peace coalition.” Position Not Clear Nobody at the moment, however, seems quite certain wnetner Mr Churchill aid mean mat he intends to form a coalition after the election. “ Men of goodwill of any party or no party who are willing to serve ” is taken to refer to men liKe bir John Anderson, Lord Woolton, Lord Leathers, Mr Oliver Lyttelton and Sir James Grigg, but whether it extends to Labour and Liberal members is regarded as not yet clear. It is declared certain, howevex, that no Labour or Liberal Ministers will serve in the interim Government before the election in accordance with the decision of their parties to light the election on party lines. But whether they might be attracted by an offer from Mr Churchill if the conservatives win the election is anotner matter. There is a section of thought which believes it would be best for the country to have an all-party Government during the period when the war against Japan is still being continued and dufcing the immediate postwar period, when Britain will not only be taking part in world conferences, when the decisions of a coalition Government would be preferable to those of a party Government, but will also be confronted with the growing pains f of peace.

Against this must be weighed the deep party differences, which at present centre around the question of controls and private enterprise. Mr Churchill had plumped for the elimination of unnecessary controls and for private enterprise. This Labour regards as “a resumption of the anarchistic commercial scramble,” and “ the most fly-blown economic doctrine we have inherited from the industrial revolution.” In view of these differences of opinion, it is asked, how could Labour Ministers accept the invitation of the victorious Conservative Party—provided it is victorious—to join them in a post-war coalition. This suggestion of Mr Churchill’s to form a coalition after the war is, of course, not new. It was in his mind in his speech of March. 1943 Some think, however, he does not mean a coalition of all parties, but a coalition against Labour, the rallying of all the anti-Socialists against the Socialists.. Speech Disliked by Labour There is no doubt that the Labour Party dislikes his speech. “ Misleading and mischief making,” Mr Arthur Greenwood called it, and Mr E. Shinwell dubbed it “a complete surrender to the diehards of the Tory Party.” The Labour newspapers are frankly scornful, and the Daily Herald -regards it as revealing a thread-bare policy, a speech which, after reading it, “ we are restraining ourselves with the utmost difficulty from manifestations of premature optimism at the Whitsun party conference.” : . The Conservative press ranges from the detached, qualified approval of The Times to the delighted applause of Lord Beaverbrook’s press, which takes upon itself to declare on behalf of the nation that it contains a series of guiding principles “ which, applied with vigour, offer the best hope for the nation here at home and those abroad in the battle.” But the Manchester Guardian is not impressed, though it sounds amused. It declares the speech to be disappointing, “an old mixture,” and suggests that Mr Churchill’s thoughts are “still with the war and great impending events, not such petty things as the manoeuvres of elections four or five months ahead.” It chides him with using dusty notes, “ reach-me-downs from the tub-thumping twenties." With all this comment, both favourable and adverse, and all the speculations on his words, however, Mr Churchill is doubtless well satisfied. He has started the talk on a general election going in earnest, and, a shrewd politician, he will know how to. use it to his advantage.