Labour - Party and T.U.C.
What the National Executive of the Labour Party expected from its extraordinary meeting with the General Council of the T.U.C. was never vtty -clear. But, on the key question of nationalisation, it is very clear what the National Executive got—nothing at all, not even fireworks. The T.U.C. was polite, even interested, but it was not to be committed. If Mr. Morgan Phillips had to have his policy ready for the public by the spring, let him; and if he wanted the T.U.C.'s advice on technicalities, its committees were avail- able for consultation; the T.U.C. can wait until summer. The Labour movement is deeply troubled. It needs a policy; it cannot hope to return to power without one. Will the nationalisation of land, chemicals and .the aircraft industry, togettar with a five-year plan for industry and agriculture do ? In some unions there are serious doubts about the social value of nationalisation and its relevance to current economic life, but even if these be discounted, throughout the movement its less blithe spirits cannot see nationalisation winning an election. In this sense the split in the Labour Party is wider and deeper than ever; it is no longer agreed on its particular political purpose. It, no more than we, will know where it is going until it is there. This does not mean it will not arrive. But at the next election ? The odds against lengthened last Thursday.
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