SPECTATOR'S NOTE BOOK
J. W. M. THOMPSON
If only the British diplomats and their families could be got safely out of Peking, I don't suppose anyone would be the poorer for the ending of the current absurd pretence that we enjoy 'diplomatic relations' with China. We are, in fact, bound to be the losers in the sort of Yahoo diplomacy which this week spread from Peking to London. Clearly one objective of the demonstrations in Portland Place on Tues- day was the stirring-up of other incidents rather like those which are switched on and off at will in Peking. This was not achieved, thanks largely to nimble police work. But Mr Brown's subsequent expression of his 'willingness to talk' with Peking looked pretty forlorn while this sort of thing was in progress. After Tuesday's fracas the newspapers carried some memorable pictures, among them one of a slight, studious-looking Chinese youth in spec- tacles, advancing across a mews towards a bewildered policeman, and brandishing a fear- some axe the while. It said a good deal about the element of the ludicrous which is mingled with all that is horrible in the Chinese up- heavals: a familiar combination in cases of mass hysteria.
It is a pity that the British diplomats' wives and families, at least, were not brought back from Peking before they could be turned into hostages in this odious parody of diplomacy. For the present the Chinese Legation in Port- land Place will presumably continue to be one of the new sights of London, with wary police keeping back the crowds which have assembled since the riot there, and the risk of fresh dis- turbance at any moment. It is unthinkable that China's 'diplomats' should be allowed to leave the country before our people are safe. If they burn down their legation (and I shouldn't be in the least surprised if they do) the architectural loss to Portland Place will be regrettable: but they will still have to be housed somewhere else. Perhaps Court Lees, the approved school which Mr Roy Jenkins closed down the other week, might be suitable?
Right background
Sir Edward Boyle used to say that he would prove to be the last product of a public school to fill the office of Minister of Education. His theory was that the Spirit of the Age, to borrow Disraeli's phrase, was moving so strongly to- wards the state school system that a minister from the independent sector would seem altogether too exotic a creature to be politically acceptable. Well, Sir Edward has been right about many things in his time (not forgetting Suez) but he was dead wrong in this prediction. No sooner had the egalitarian legions evicted the Etonian hordes in 1964 than Mr Michael Stewart (who went to Christ's Hospital) took over Sir Edward's place; and when Mr Stewart moved on to pursue the Cabinet career which has this week led him to become the Invisible Man of the Government, he was replaced by Mr Crosland, the distinguished old boy of Highgate. Now, of course, Mr Gordon Walker, who was educated at that notably socially divisive institution Wellington, has benefited from Mr Wilson's sturdily conservative belief that public schools produce the best Ministers of Education. It is all very strange. At this rate Mr Wilson is going to find it difficult to keep the post filled with men possessing the qualifies- tions he deems appropriate, for there are precious few left in the Government, and in view of Mr Gordon Walker's singular tendency to be politically accident-prone his tenure may prove to be rather brief.
One thing that Mr Gordon Walker's selec- tion for this ministry does seem to imply, how- ever, is that the illiberal movement to extinguish .the independent schools is most un- likely to achieve much in the near future. Mr Crosland has long been the abolitionists' most powerful ally (although it's said he grew cooler towards them latterly), but Mr Gordon Walker is not the man to push the extremist line. It would certainly be peculiar if, having dis- located his career once for defending immi- grants' freedom to come and settle here, be then set about restricting the natives' freedom in so fundamental a matter as choosing their child- ren's education. Besides, he can't be too em- bittered about public schools, since he sent his own sons to one.
Resistance movement
`Environment' has been the ox word this sum- mer, no doubt about it: and although it's an ungainly assembly of syllables, if its popularity indicates (as I like to think it does) a genuine disgust at the squalid mess this generation is making in the world, then I can put up with its endless repetition. On holiday in fairly remote parts of England, I have noticed in recent weeks how the local newspapers fill columns of every issue with news of spirited attempts to resist the influences which would pretty quickly blot out almost the entire English landscape if un- checked. My hunch is that this struggle matters to more and more people: and while of course the big battalions are against them, they have their victories. The news that Mr Douglas Jay had been dropped from the Government even filled me with a brief euphoria at the thought that the battle of Stansted may yet be won : no other minister, surely, could bow quite so dismally to the dictates of administrative con- venience? But however that battle turns out (and the last shots have by no means been fired) I don't believe that any government will ever again act so thoroughly oafishly on a major , environmental issue as this one did over Stan- sted. Witness Mr Anthony Greenwood's recent decision not to allow the second runway at Southend airport to be extended. What reason did he give? 'The absence of any safeguard that the development will not lead to an increase in the total noise from the airport.' Good heavens! This from a minister who (regretfully, it is true) defended Stansted in the House of CommOns and thereby condemned hundreds of thousands of people to an appalling 'increase in the total noise.' The people of (for example) Harlow New Town, who are promised the mind-numbing roar of a big jet flying low over- head every minute when Stansted is in full , operation, must wish that Mr Greenwood had had the courage to apply the same principle when their fate was being settled.
Mot juste
'It has been a fascinating experience to have been a member of your Government since October, 1964:---From Lord Walston's resigna- tion letter to the Prime Minister this week.
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