6 Paragon House, Blackheath, SE3 HUGH HAWN° SIR,—I would like
to thank you for publishing the two articles which appeared side by side in last week's issue, written by a 'Right-wing' and a •Left., wing' Conservative respectively. Between them theY appear to present a very fair expression of current Tory attitudes, and, while Lord Altrincham's wishY- washy Liberalism can be dismissed as harmless. the whole underlying theme of the other article made the 'most pathetic reading.
The key to the whole piece lay in the statement
claiming that 'the Socialists have never been much interested in foreign affairs.' It then proceeded, after an inevitable smack at Chamberlain and Eden, to state what are the essentials of all foreign policies. 'All foreign policy,' it said, 'rests on the implicit sanction of force ready to back it up.' Real gunboat stuff, in fact.
I would like to put it this way. If the Labour Party had never interested itself in this type of foreign , policy, it is because it regards a nation, any nation, as
a collection of individual human beings and not ai representing a coloured blob on a map to be tossed casually about in the great game of the BalanceNof Power. The Labour Party simply recognised manY years ago that it is time we stopped trying to throw our weight about and started to put our own house in order. And to speak of backing decisions by force, at a time When the Russians have already successfully launched an earth satellite, is nothing short of suicidal madness. Put one foot wrong and the whole world goes up in flames.
The Tories realise this as much as anyone else,
which, of course, means that they are now without any sort of constructive Policy at all. In a world of rapid progress they are floundering. Hence the anger and frustration and despair of this particular writer as he goes down for the third time.—Yours faithfully,
LA BLACK WOOP
II Cantpden Hill Road, Kensington, W8
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