The Great Debate
Sir: October 28 was a day of great significance in the House of Commons. As in a play, to quote the negotiator-in-chief, MPs made their choice, and the combined efforts of Tories, Liberals and Labour won the 'vote in principle ' for the Common Market. Of course that was not the last act of the play. A tough constitutional fight lies ahead and the Market is a long way off, even if our fishermen's livelihood is guaranteed.
Something else happened on that same day. Party politics came to an inglorious end. A House of Commons, acting as if it were an elected dictatorship, revealed the emptiness of' parliamentary democracy as we have known it, by ignoring the wishes of the majority of the people. Readers may remember how in the 1970 general election, the candidates in the constituency or Conway, North Wales, were asked to sign a pledge not to vote for entry to the Common Market. All signed, in various terms. Thus the electors in that constituency were seen to exercise a democratic choice.
What will emerge when the last act of Mr Rippon's drama is
Played, I don't know. That depends on the wisdom and determination of the British people, whose voice has not yet been heard. L. Harrison 15 Mundella Terrace, NewcastleaPon-Tyne
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