Spectator's Notebook
THE Commonwealth club may not be quite what it Was, but the new clubhouse is cer- tainly a big improvement on the old one. From
a practical point of view Lancaster House was impossible. Its sumptuous gilded elegance
scarcely made up for the lack of all mod. cons. Marlborough House, a bit of a barracks from the outside, has enough room for the delega- tions to breathe when they are actually excluded from the council chamber, a library where useful ammunition, such as previous speeches of British Ministers, can be found, and a bar. It also has a chapel which had not, I fear, been much used by delegates. The only discernible defect so far discovered is that the dignified sweep up to the front door is built at too sharp an angle for official cars (why is it, incidentally, that the smaller in physique a Prime Minister is, the larger his car tends to be?). The spectacular dives of delegates to avoid being crushed under the wheels of vast automobiles which in despera- tion have to mount the pavement have become one of the favourite sideshows of the conference. More seriously, I feel that the Government PROs made a tactical error in the way they treated Mr. Macmillan's and Mr. Heath's speeches on the opening day of the conference. By leaking large chunks to the press, complete with accounts of the applause, they set- precedent which has produced a barrage of leaks anecounter-leaks from everyone concerned. Even the gentlemen's agreement of the Prime Ministers not to com- ment on each other's speeches has gone by the board.
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