The Political Truce
The political atmosphere would be cleared to the advantage of all the three principal parties if agreement could be reached in regard to procedure at the general election. The official statement issued by the executive committee of the national Labour Party after its week-end meetings affirmed the necessity of continuing the electoral truce in the interests of unity during the war, but the Party is not willing to accept a " coupon " or coalition general election, and will look for freedom to increase its representation in the House
of Commons. This is a perfectly reasonable proposition, and need by no means involve an end of the coalition. It may be compared, and contrasted, with the position taken up by Lady Violet Bonham Carter, the president-elect of the Liberal Party. She was asking for greater freedom here and now, that is say, in by-elections, urging that the three parties should be free to put up candidates chosen by the constituencies, pledged to the support of the Prime Minister and the Government's war policy, but with freely chosen pro- grammes in other fields. There are grave objections to such a proce- dure at this juncture of the war, but not in a post-war general elec- tion. Then the common ground would still be the Prime Minister's leadership in international affairs, and in the making of peace ; the ground of difference would mainly be in regard to certain long-term social policies at home. The purpose of such an election would not be to displace the Government, but to secure a House of Commons adequately reflecting opinion in the country. Such an understanding would meet the requirements at the general election of both the Labour and the Liberal Parties, and could scarcely be rejected by the Conservatives. An agreethent on these lines (subject, of course, to the absence of fundamental political changes) would have an effect even in by-elections, where at present the parties are playing for position, with a view to the general election. A clearly satisfactory result has been achieved at Bury St. Edmunds where a local Conservative farmer is succeeded by another local Conservative farmer.
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