Over the Hump

From Our Common Market Correspondent

IT has been a desperately disappointing ten days. No one who has been, so to speak, within earshot of Marlborough House, whether

Common Marketeer or staunch Commonwealth man, has been anything but appalled by the atmosphere of hypocrisy and rank self-interest

in which much of the debate has been conducted. Family quarrels, especially where hard cash is concerned, are notoriously apt to be demeaning, but one doubts whether anyone, certainly on the British side, expected anything quite like this.

British Ministers and officials for a time last week were genuinely reeling, the built-in

rationalisers' which keep the well-equipped Whitehall mind on its rocker in moments of crisis having manifestly failed to do their stabilis- ing work. First brave reactions to the Common- wealth onslaught were that it was predictable, a gesture to the electorates back home. 'Poor old Bob Menzies with his majority of one,' they were saying. 'He had to get that off his chest. Now he can get down to being a Commonwealth statesman again.' Unfortunately neither Bob (who, to do him justice, had a number of un- sympathetic lobby correspondents from Canberra on his tail) nor indeed anyone else turned out to be in this kind of mood. The group meetings last Thursday and Friday, Which were arranged specifically to take the heat Out of the atmosphere, made little difference. The officials who turned up at them were less rhetori- cal, but quite as determined as their masters had been In the group on temperate foodstuffs the Australians went on demanding an impossible amount of precision in the guarantees they were being offered in Brussels. The Canadians went farther and refused to assist in the discussions at all, sitting mute and embarrassed under strict orders from Mr. Diefenbaker. In the group on Association and tropical pro- ducts the Africans, egged on by Mr. K. B. Lall, the Indian Ambassador in Brussels (who is rapidly becoming an object of considerable sus- teinn in Whitehall), were demanding the full Market of Associate status with the Common Market without any of the alleged political in- conveniences. While in the Asian group (Mr.

all

again) there were the old demands for a reopening of the provisional agreements already reached in Brussels. These detailed demands, some of which have found their way into the communiqué in spite of 4t111 British opposition, were really what reduced British officialdom to such acute rage. For as rithe Commonwealth almost certainly realises, of them are demands which cannot, or 441 not, be met by the Six and would therefore, stuck to by Britain, constitute an effective bar ar our entry to Europe. We, say British officials, bee Playing for the highest possible stakes, on half both of Britain herself and the Common- wealth as a whole. The Commonwealth countries, on . the other hand, have failed either to demon- strate that the terms so far achieved are ruinous to 4 Commonwealth individually or to offer any alternative poirt.rn°owealth course of action, economic or cerl;ca• (Mr. Diefenbaker's world conference Certainly does not qualify.) All this has left an

unpleasant taste in the mouth which will take some time to clear away, whether Britain enters Europe or not.

Yet, taste apart, the Government has got some way towards its main objectives by this confer- ence. These were to leave its hands reasonably free for the resumption of the Brussels talks, and to avoid another Commonwealth conference.

The second of these points was gained with surprising ease. This is where the Government's tactics of making it absolutely clear that Britain is 'hell-bent for Europe' have paid off. For the Prime Ministers have realised that if this is really so then the less responsibility they have for the decision the better for their position at home. No doubt if the rest of the Brussels talks go really badly Mr. Holyoake (supported by Mr. Menzies and Mr. Diefenbaker) will appear in London ready (and possibly able) to forbid the banns. But who else?

The first, more important, point has also been gained, on paper at least. Britain has made no promises. All she has undertaken to do is to `bear in mind' the fears expressed by the Com- monwealth and has listed admirable but vague principles on which Britain will try to base her terms. This, is less forbidding than the original pledge to safeguard vital Com- monwealth interests. Whether it really lets Mr. Macmillan off the hook depends on several unseen factors. One is the effect of the confer- ence on the political situation at Westminster and in the constituencies. The Commonwealth has no doubt overplayed its hand to some extent. The Tories are as huffy as any, and probably huffier than most, with people who say 'we don't trust you'; but the sheer volume and insistence of the chorus may have had some effect, particularly since Mr. Menzies, the veteran ally of Suez and a thousand other fights, failed to do quite what was expected of him. As for the Labour Party— the imagination, as Bertie Wooster would say, boggles.

Even more important, perhaps, is the possible effect of this exhibition in Europe. The Govern- ment clearly hopes that the toughness of Com- monwealth reaction can be turned to some good effect in Brussels where it may melt the hearts of those 'Europeans' who actually want Britain to join. But what about General de Gaulle? It is true that he can hardly argue, as he once did, that Britain is not serious in her intentions; but may he not draw the conclusion that since Mr. Macmillan has now demonstrated his determina-

tion to enter Europe at all costs, there is no need

to bother about accommodating him with reason- able terms? The French Ambassador in London is known to be reporting to his government that this would be a false conclusion—especially as far as New Zealand is concerned, but will he be listened to while the plaudits of the German crowds are still ringing in the General's ears?

There is a school of thought in the Quai d'Orsay which believes that the General is com- pletely resigned to Britain's entry; that he con- vinced himself in Bonn that a European federa- tion, far less a Franco-German pact, without Britain would not have the support of the Ger- man political parties; and that now he is con- vinced he wants to settle the British business as soon as possible. Some rather cryptic remarks of M. Couve de Murville, the French Foreign Minister, to Mr. Heath two weeks ago to the effect that the negotiations would be completed by the end of this year may owe something to these calculations. But since the General seldom vouchsafes his real intentions even to the Quai, one never knows.

There is a final complication. The almost unanimous fervour with which the African Com- monwealth rejected Associate status is a serious blow, and its consequences may in the long run be more far-reaching than anything else that has happened during the Marlborough House con- ference.

There is now the prospect either that Africa is condemned to permanent economic division or that the whole concept of Association will break down. Here, as elsewhere, the Marl- borough House conference has raised as many questions as it has answered.