Conservative policies
A.s a fellow Conservative candidate sat the last election I find Mr Raffan's 2talYsis of the Party's defeat quite vxtraordinary. , He argues that there is a great need to keep in touch with Grass Roots troion and at the same time implies „ at those people who expect policies Inat they have voted for to actually be Dlemented are guilty of a sort of ,,,nosauric mental inability to under"and the brilliance of clever young IIllen such as himself and should therefore be ignored. c The logic of his argument is that fonservatism shall be discarded
Selsdon man must not be resurrect:u"), but one is therefore forced to 1')rettluire how then are conservatives to
,.exPected to support the party.
„tie supports the retention of Mr neath as leader of the party despite his
r.11 Personal record of publicly crising him when in office for failing
o create the dialogue between r
vernment and people he professes 0 so desire. The long record of Mr Heath's 12"ttirris, failure to implement many c't the 1970 manifesto promises and (Pci:urate refusal to pay any heed to the itItImions, desires and aspirations of Jge sections of his own Party, let ',one the country as a whole, not only lte him totally unfit to re-occupy No but will ensure that the Party he leads will be defeated at the 7()Richard Devonald Lewis. rvinclsor Road, London N7 Sir: I
Mpossible as it is to disagree With fueith Raffan, as to the need for a
p 2ciamen1al rethink of Conservative itth6clueY, his suggestion that PEST will a,,-^t„e a major contribution to, It not oi.`"allY lead, this process has more "11 an overtone of self-delusion. a nder Mr Raffan as chairman, PEST d'Pears to have contributed little, cr'Zond dubious publicity in women's ggazines featuring Mr Raffan, to the ii; tellectual progress of the party. His
suggestion that PEST is a hive of intellectual activity seems to be straining the case to say the least, especially when it seems incapable of communicating even an outline of activity to its ordinary membership such as myself.
As tcr acting as recruitment agency for the party, well once more my own experience tends to cast some doubt on PEST's ability in this area. Despite several offers to assist in any way 1 could, I have received absolutely no encouragement, let alone positive communication; but then unlike Mr Raffan I don't have the sort of talent that gets on photographed semi-clothed for the titillation of the Sun's readers.
There is no doubt as to the need for an injection of progressive ideas into the Conservative Party: it's possible that PEST may be the vehicle for it, but Mr Raffan should not preach to others until his own house is in order. Kingsley Manning 3 Woodside, Elgin Road, Weybridge, Surrey
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